CAPAS, Tarlac — Veteran junior standouts Kyla Bulaga and Aishel Evangelista delivered dominant performances anew in Class A action in the penultimate round of the 2026 National Long Course Age-Group Championships on Saturday at the New Clark City Aquatics Center.
Bulaga, 16, continued her impressive run, adding two more gold medals in the girls’ 16-year division, topping the 200-meter individual medley in 2:28.52 and the 1500-meter freestyle in 18:23.35 to raise her gold medal haul to five
“I’m really happy with my performance because all the hard work in training is paying off,” said Bulaga. “My goal here is to stay consistent and improve my times as I prepare for international competitions.”
She dominated both races, beating Stracey Bee (2:44.04) in the IM and Eliana Isabel Rodriguez (18:56.68) in the 1500m, strengthening her bid for Most Outstanding Swimmer honors in her class.
“I just focus on my own race and give my best every time I dive into the pool,” she added.
Earlier, Bulaga ruled the 200m butterfly (2:25.78), 200m breaststroke (2:43.18), and 800m freestyle (9:44.99).
Evangelista, representing University of Santo Tomas, matched the strong showing in the boys’ 16-year class, capturing the 1500m freestyle in 17:10.99 and the 200m freestyle in 1:58.89. He edged Zyrhed Pajas (17:13.87) in the long distance event and outpaced Bernet Gonzaga (2:03.74) and Mark Africano (2:06.63) in the 200m.
He also won the 200m breaststroke (2:33.86) on opening day of the three-day competition backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, Speedo, and the MVP Sports Foundation.
The meet serves as a selection event for international tournaments, including the Southeast Asian Age-Group Championships in Singapore.
In the 19-over division, Southeast Asian Games record holder Xiandi Chua secured her second gold medal after ruling the women’s 200m freestyle in 2:06.37, defeating Mishka Sy (2:14.30). She earlier won the 100m freestyle in 58.59 seconds, ahead of Trixie Ortiguerra (59.77) and Quendy Fernandez (1:00.92).
Jasmine Mojdeh nailed her third gold medal in the 50m butterfly (28.50), following her win in the 800m freestyle (9:27.5).
Albert Amaro also posted a double victory in the boys’ 19-year division, taking the 200m backstroke (1:53.52) and the 50m butterfly (24.72).
