UST Tiger Fencer Janna Catantan, who won bronze in the 2023 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, is contemplating what could be her final season with the UST squad in UAAP Season 87.
That’s why she’s entering the upcoming fencing tournament with a “new eagerness” to compete, a mindset fueled by her older sister Samantha Catantan’s Olympic debut in Paris 2024.
“I guess the eagerness to win is going to be different right now. Especially, my mindset right now, it could be my last,” Janna, a fourth-year occupational therapy student, told the Varsitarian.
“That’s why, as much as possible talaga, I show up every training kahit talaga mahirap sa schedule and to give my best lang po talaga since it could be my last season.”
Janna said seeing Samantha compete on the Olympic stage a year after suffering a torn ACL reignited her competitive drive.
At the time, Samantha entered the women’s individual foil event as the lowest-ranked fencer, sitting at No. 266. However, she defied expectations and upset then-world No. 65 Mariana Pistoia of Brazil in the round of 64, making history as the first Filipino fencer to win a direct elimination bout at the Olympics.
However, her Olympic run came to an end in the round of 32, where she fell to Italy’s Arianna Errigo, the world’s No. 2 fencer.
“No’ng pinapanood ko siya, parang ‘yong feeling ko, I couldn’t honestly believe she could make it,” Janna said. “Pero I was really amazed she’s there and won the qualifications and won the first round.”
That level of grit, Janna said, is something she wants to emulate in Season 87 as she aims to lead the Lady Fencers to the crown and reclaim the women’s foil title she lost in Season 86, when she settled for bronze.
“I actually feel inspired, kasi coming from the bottom, talagang kinaya niya. So I felt inspired na parang at some point, kaya ko din ‘yong nagawa niya,” she said.
“Mas naging motivated lang talaga ako, kasi ‘yong Olympics, ‘yon ‘yong pinakamataas na competition an athlete can (be part of). Naging motivated ako to go through the process para makapunta doon, and UAAP is part of it.”
Olympic hopes
However, Janna, who made the national team for 2025, said she won’t let the pressure of following in her sister’s footsteps get to her.
An accomplished athlete in her own right, Janna boasts a SEA Games bronze, the Season 85 Rookie of the Year award and a foil gold, and, most recently, a silver from a Southeast Asian Fencing Federation tilt in December 2024. She is determined to forge her own identity on the strip.
“Simula dati pa naman, naco-compare ‘yong progress namin since magkapatid kami,” she said. “Eventually, na-realize ko na lang din na we’re different.”
“Although meron pa ring pressure, tine-take ko lang ‘yon as motivation to do better and to really think na iba ‘yong time niya, iba ‘yong time ko.”
After her sister’s stint in Paris and her inclusion in the Atletang Ayala program, Janna said she now has Olympic dreams of her own.
However, she remains aware of the grueling process ahead, which includes accumulating points in international competitions.
“I know it’s a very, very long process, and it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be difficult, and matagal pa po siya, 2028. But ‘yon talaga ‘yong pinaka-goal, to get to the Olympics.
“If you ask me if I want to be there, yes, I want to be there… So I hope eventually that there is something better ahead of me.”
The UAAP Season 87 fencing tournaments will run from April 22 to 25 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. with reports from Joaquin Edgardo A. Cortez
