ARVIN Naeem Taguinota II of Pasig City made the biggest waves in the swimming competition in the Batang Pinoy, bagging his third gold medal and becoming the winningest athlete so far at the Teofilo Yldefonso Swimming Pool inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.

Taguinota, who took the gold medal on the inaugural day, continued his stellar performance by ruling the boys 12 & Under 50m backstroke with an impressive time of 31.15 seconds and the boys 12 & Under 100m backstroke, only one minute and 05.63 seconds.

The 12-year-old Taguinota, who was crowned as the Best Swimmer in the 11-12 years old age group in Dubai, secured the first gold in the Boys 8-12 200m Individual Medley in a Best Time finals swimming format.

Taguinota is best remembered for scooping six gold medals in the Emirates International Swimming Championships in Dubai last March 17-19.

He secured the golds in 50m, 100m, and 200m backstrokes, 200 Individual Medley, and 50m and 100m free events.

He was awarded the Best Swimmer among more than 1,000 swimmers, primarily from the Middle East Asia.

Sharing the limelight were Jamesray Mishael Ajido from Mandaluyong City, who emerged victorious in the Boys 13-15 200m IM (2:15.30m) and Boys 13-15 50m Butterfly (25.94s), and Michaela Jasmine Mojdeh of Parañaque City, who secured wins in the Girls 16-17 200m IM (2:28.18m) and Girls 16-17 50m Butterfly (29.27s).

Elsewhere, the Carlo Paalam-coached Cagayan de Oro squad maintained a perfect record, with all 10 boxers advancing to the next round at the Rafael Palma School in Manila.

Paalam, a silver medalist in the 2022 Tokyo Olympics and a proud product of Batang Pinoy, continues to contribute to the success of the team.

Bacolod and Iloilo also secured two gold medals each in the fiercely-contested taekwondo competition.

Ace Sha Oro emerged victorious in the light heavyweight category, and Joshua Emmanuel Deita in the light middleweight category for Bacolod.

Justin James Diasnes won in the lightweight category, and Shein Nicole De Asis in Kyorugi 5th category.

Brianna Elyse Cajucom of Caloocan clinched the gold in Individual Kata Female 10-11 years old, while Robert Bryan Dayanan of Davao triumphed in Individual Kata Male 12-13 years old.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Robert Andaya