Negros Occidental tankers Miguel Villanueva, Kiefer Piccio and Dominique Balinas registered multiple-gold finishes as the hosts looked headed for another romp, after winning 19 of the 28 golds contested in the Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association Meet swimming competitions in Bacolod City yesterday.

The titles in the secondary boys and girls' divisions as well as in the elementary boys' category appeared to be in the bag for the Negros delegation.

The losses, however, piled up in the elementary girls' division, where the Negrenses suffered a gold-medal shutout. Iloilo leads the contest with six golds, while Antique pulled off a surprise by winning a gold, courtesy of Rikka Duarte in the 200-m free.

A senior at the University of St. La Salle-Integrated School, Villanueva ruled the secondary boys' 100-m backstroke event in 1:09.15, ahead of teammate Patrick Percano (1:13.62).

Villanueva, 16, also topped the 200-m individual medley in 2:29.66 to beat teammate Adrian Cua, who jumpstarted the Negros bid with a victory in the 400-m freestyle, after coming in at 4:52.36. Balinas, who won two golds in last year's Palarong Pambansa, continued her winning ways, grabbing top honors in the 200-m IM in 2:45.94, after ruling the 100-m butterfly, where she edged teammate Carmela Nava by more than a second with her 1:11.11 clocking.

Earlier, Nava, who will graduate from St. Joseph's School-La Salle next month, claimed the 400-m gold by the skin of her teeth, clocking 5:03.40 to nip teammate Krestia Angela Lacson (5:03.43).

Piccio, who swept all of his seven events in last year's meet in Roxas City, triumphed in the 200-m free with his 2:21.34 time, before prevailing in the 200-m IM in 2:37.89.

Also coming through with golden performances in the elementary boys' division were Bacolod Christian Education Center School's Karlo Del Carmen, champion in the 50-m backstroke in 36.78 seconds, Rafael Bacaoco of Education Training and Center School, who topped the 100-m breast in 1:22.24 seconds, and Tom Allen Erojo of Apolinario Mabini ES, the winner in the 50-m fly in 32.54.

The elementary boys' squad also swept the two relay races in its category. Piccio and Joshua Balinas joined hands with Bacaoco and Erojo to give Negros the 4x100-m medley gold in 5:16.11. Balinas and Piccio returned to team up with Mervin John Sison and Nico Kuan to win the 4x100-m free in 5:01.67.

But while the elementary boys' squad swept all seven events, the secondary boys' team missed out on a sweep, after Iloilo's Joseph Gloria beat Negros' Jose Ng III for the gold in the 200-m breaststroke. Except for that setback, it was smooth-sailing for the high school tankers with Percano also adding to the gold haul, following his victory in the 100-m butterfly, where he clocked 1:07.04.

Villanueva was also a member of the 4x100-m medley squad, along with Cua, Percano and Ng. They clocked 4:52.28 to win the gold, 13 seconds ahead of Iloilo.

Reymarc Cornel, Ronel Duran, Alfredo Ramaila Jr. and Alvior also delivered another gold in the 4x100-m free with their combined 4:18.57 time.

Negros' Cleistah Sol Sabusap also struck gold in the secondary girls' 200-m breaststroke, after clocking 3:04.63 to beat Iloilo's Karen Ignacio (3:06.15). Sabusap, Irene Bel Ploteña, Lacson and Ysobelle Engallado later won the 4x100-m free with a time of 4:46.23.

Iloilo's Chantana Neptuno denied Negros a sweep in the secondary girls' division by winning the 100-m backstroke title in 1:18.14, ahead of Hillary Jovette Tan of Negros, who came in at 1:20.79.

Tan, however, avenged her loss, albeit in a relay event, after she joined Balinas, Mary Lovelle Cacho and Lacson in 4x100-m medley to clock 5:13.41. Iloilo, led by Neptuno and Reynalissa Catapang, settled for the silver in 5:20.29.

Negros posted silver finishes in the two relay events in the elementary girls' division. Tanya Rosales and Mary Angela Pandan were the best performing swimmers for Negros in the category, settling for silver finishes in the 100-m breast and 50-m backstroke.

Twenty-eight more golds are at stake in the last day of the competitions today with each gold worth 7 points in the team event. The relay gold offers 14 points. Each team title in swimming is worth 30 points in the championship table. *CPT

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Negros swimmers bag 19 of 28 golds
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