PSL’s Luistro cops 5 gold medals in Day 3 of Phuket tourney
Credit to Author: EMIL C. NOGUERA, TMT| Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2019 16:29:21 +0000
PHUKET, Thailand: Philippine Swimming League (PSL) standout Trump Christian Luistro made waves by winning five gold medals in the third day of the 2019 Thanyapura International Swimming Championship on Sunday at the Thanyapura Swimming Pool here.
Luistro, a Hope Christian School-Legazpi student, dominated five events in the boys’ 9-10 category against tall and seasoned opponents.
Luistro displayed his impressive form in the 50m backstroke — his first gold — with a time of 38.30 seconds.
He won another gold in the 200m freestyle with 2:34.39
He wrapped the day by ruling the 50m butterfly (33.85), 100m freestyle (1:10.18) and 50m breaststroke (43.52).
“It’s a bit tiring to swim five events in one day against taller swimmers but we are really motivated because we want to dedicate these gold medals to coach Susan Papa. I still have two events tomorrow and hopefully get those two,” said Luistro.
Masville Elementary School-Parañaque tanker Marc Bryan Dula and Dipolog City pride Mary Maika Montecillo contributed three gold medals each to the PSL squad’s medal haul. They joined Luistro in the list of quintuple gold medal winners in the four-day meet.
After topping the 50m backstroke (32.54) and 100m butterfly (1:09.57) last Saturday, Dula won the the boys’ 11-12 division’s 100m freestyle (1:05.07), 50m butterfly (30.67) and 100m backstroke (1:13.40) events.
For her part, Montecillo dominated the 100m backstroke (1:24.04), 100m butterfly (34.23) and 100m freestyle (1:11.53) in the girls’ 9-10 class.
Montecillo earlier ruled the 50m backstroke (38.83) and 100m butterfly (1:17.42).
Diliman Preparatory School bet Jenn Albreicht Sermonia chipped in three silver medals after finishing second in the girls’ 9-10 100m backstroke (1:26.85), 100m butterfly (34.50) and 50m breaststroke (44.71) while Albert Sermonia II also won silver in the 50m butterfly (29.04) on top of two bronze medals in the 100m freestyle (1:00.02) and 50m breaststroke (34.80).
Overall, the Philippines has already garnered 16 gold medals, surpassing its previous record of 11 in the 2018 edition of the tournament.
“We are happy that we were able to surpass our medal target last year. But we’re not yet done, there’s a few more events left and we are looking to win more gold medals,” said PSL delegation head coach Alex Papa.
Luistro is set to compete in two more events namely 50m freestyle and 100m breast while Dula will see action in 50m freestyle and 200m Individual Medley.
Montecillo vies for gold in 50m freestyle while Jenn Albreicht hopes to deliver in 100m breaststroke.
The post PSL’s Luistro cops 5 gold medals in Day 3 of Phuket tourney appeared first on The Manila Times Online.