By MARK REY MONTEJO
Jamesray Ajido and Patricia Santor delivered for Team Philippines after clinching bronze medals in their respective events in the 12th Asian Age Group Championships in Bangkok, Thailand over the weekend.
Ajido, 17, dazzled by clocking 24.77 seconds, enough time to pluck the bronze medal in the boys’ 17-18 50m butterfly of the five-day meet which was joined by elite youth swimmers from across the continent.
The Palarong Pambansa standout finished behind Hong Kong’s Adam Onyu Li (24.28) and United Arab Emirates’ Hussein Mohamed Shawky (24.50.
More than winning a bronze medal, Ajido bettered the 24.94 record set by Joshua four years ago.
Two years ago, Ajido turned heads after snaring a historic gold in the 12-14 boys’ butterfly event which was held at the Aquatics Center in New Clark City.
Meanwhile, the 18-year-old Santor timed 2 minutes and 19.40 seconds for a bronze in the girls’ 17-18 200m fly category.
Santor, who completed a perfect seven-gold haul in this year’s Palarong Pambansa in Agusan del Sur last May, joined Vietnam’s Le Thi Thuy Trang (2:17.05) and Chinese Taipei’s Jie Han Chao (2:18.93) in the podium.
Riannah Coleman, however, was not fortunate, missing a bronze by a hairline in the girls’ 17-18 200m breaststroke as she timed in 2:37.89secs against 2:37.38 of Hong Kong’s Wing Sum Hazel Chung.
Jibril Talusig (boys’ 13-14 50m backstroke) and Sophia Garra (girls’ 13-14 50m backstroke) also fell short in their respective events.
