IT WAS a nail-biting finish for the fastest aquathlete honors in the inaugural Vermosa Aquathlon standard distance 500-meter swim/5-km run held Sunday at the newly opened Vermosa Sports Hub in Imus, Cavite.
Promising national triathlon pool athlete and San Beda varsity swimmer Josh Angelo Averion, 17, needed just 27 minutes and six seconds to finish the lung-busting standard distance and gain the title of champion in the 15-17 age group.
Hot on Averion’s heels was his fellow age-grouper, Richard Anson Navo at 27:23. Another member of the national triathlon pool, Liam Tangan, 18, crossed the finish line in 27:47 for the third-fastest time and 1st place in the 18-24 age group.
Among the 105 women in the standard distance, Andrea Villanueva, 25, of One Triathlon Team emerged as the fastest female with a time of 32:01. Villanueva was also the champion in the 25-29 age group.
TriGEAR Team’s Jana Macalalad (female 15-17 champion) clocked in the 2nd fastest finish time at 33:13, followed three seconds later by Carla Beatriz Grabador (female 25-29, 2nd place), in this event sponsored by Vermosa Sports Hub, TIMEX, Oh So Healthy, Robinsons Supermarket, Gardenia, ProHealth Sports and Spinal, Nescafe Dolce Gusto, and hydration partner Gatorade.
Other male and female standard-distance champions in each age group were Rusty Desabille (Male 25-29), Francis Hoban and Heather Europa (30-34), Marvin Raymund Baldemor and Mira Tiffany Batilo (35-39), Raymundo Yasay and Bic Ferreira (40-44), Levy Ang and Decerel Mendoza (45-49), Celma Hitalia (female 50-above), Jose Miguel Villanueva (male 50-54), Isidro Manuel (male 55-59), and Mario Cesario (male 60-above).
In the relay division, the Wakandans 3 (mixed relay), Team Blanch (family), Bike King (all-female) and Wakandans 1 (all-male), were victorious in their categories.
In the shorter distance aquathlon, a 300-meter swim/3-km run, the first placers were Jerico Ejercito and Gabriella Venturina (18-29), Eugene Lim and Deborah Blanca Esquivias (30-39), Julius Chan and Tina Verstraten (40-49), Sapna Ahuja (female 50-above), and Adelio Torres (male 50-59).
Champions in the 300-meter swim/2.2-km run category were kids’ triathlon standouts Mark Grist and Kira Ellis (11-12), and Zedrick James and Isabella Pascual (13-14). In the 100-meter swim/600-meter run, Richard Nielson and Samantha Hodges (7-8 years old) and Peter Sancho Del Rosario and Sophia Relf (9-10 years old) topped their age groups.
For complete race results visit the Vermosa Aquathlon page at http://bikekingphilippines.com