LOS BANOS—Filipino-American Nicole Oliva capped her memorable debut in the Philswim National Swimming Championships on Sunday, collecting two more gold medals in completing a perfect 7-for-7 sweep of her events at the Trace College pool here.
Underscoring her status as a swimmer to watch in the 29th Malaysia Southeast Asian Games, Oliva ruled the women’s 50-meter backstroke in 30.89 seconds before winding up her campaign in handily annexing the 100-meter freestyle crown in 58.08 seconds.
A rising star in the prestigious Santa Clara Swim Club in California, the Grade 10 St. Francis Student earlier won the 200, 400 and 800-meter freestyle and 100 and 200-meter backstroke mints in the three-day meet supported by Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission.
“This was a good experience for me because I was able to adjust to the local conditions, which I think will be the same in Malaysia,” said Oliva of her experience in the meet organized by the Philippine Swimming Inc. and backed by Arena, Wilcon Depot, COL Finance and Dunn Edwards Paints, Philippians 4:13, Nagaraya, Veloci and Nutritive Snack Food Corp.
Already eyed in the US as a potential Team USA member, she thanked PSI secretary general Lani Velasco for wooing her convincingly in suiting up for the home country of her parents, Mark and Cynthia.
“I seriously thought about representing the Philippines last year and Tita Lani played a big role when she showed me the opportunity I might have in competing her,” the swimmer said. “I believe this was good decision.”
Oliva bared that she would be joining the junior swimmers who will undergo a training camp at her club next week and was hoping that she might get a chance to represent Philippines in the world championships next month in Budapest, Hungary as part of her SEA Games buildup.
Rio Olympic Games veteran Jessie Lacuna also closed his stint in this meet on a winning note, rallying past national teammate Axel Ngui in last five meters in topping the men’s 100-meter freestyle in 52.44 seconds.
Ngui, who led three-fourths of the way, was once again relegated to runnerup honors (52.47), while Palarong Pambansa sensation Maurice Sacho Ilustre (52.56) took the bronze medal.
“This Nationals were a good workout for me,” said Lacuna, who also won the 50-meter freestyle and 400-meter individual medley races and is set to join fellow Rio Olympian Jasmine Alkhadi in training camp in Bolzano, Italy this week.