THE UST Female Tigersharks placed third in the UAAP Season 86 women’s swimming tournament, snapping a six-year podium drought at the Teofilo Yldefonso Swimming Pool on Sunday.
The last time UST secured a women’s podium was six years ago when it placed third in Season 80 last Oct. 15, 2017.
UST amassed 192 points for the bronze medal, behind gold medalist University of the Philippines (435 points) and silver medalist Ateneo de Manila University (351 points). De La Salle University, which won last year’s title, became the cellar-dweller with 167 points.
The Female Tigersharks finished their campaign with a 1-6-6 gold-silver-bronze medal haul.
On the last day of the tournament, Shairinne Floriano clocked 2:45.16 to reap the silver medal in the 200-meter breaststroke event. She also bagged bronze in the 200-meter butterfly event after registering 2:24.10.
Female Tigershark Alyza Ng topped the 50-meter freestyle event after logging 27.18 seconds.
UST’s quartet of Jan Sarmiento, Roz Encarnacion, Zoe Hilario and Kristina Baccay finished with bronze in the 400-meter medley relay with a time of 4:41.43.
In men’s play, the Male Tigersharks finished in fourth place for the second year in a row after tallying 209 points. Ateneo (405 points), DLSU (329.5 points) and UP (267.5 points) rounded out the men’s swimming podium.
UST had a 6-4-1 medal haul in the men’s division after four days of play.
Joseph Arca clocked 2:23.23 to bag the gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke event, while Jules Mirandilla and Johan Aguilen each grabbed silver in the 200-meter butterfly and in the 50-meter freestyle after registering 2:12.39 and 24.24 seconds, respectively.
Arca banded with his fellow Male Tigersharks John Paderes, Johanes Tanchongco and Raven Henry in the 400-meter medley relay event and placed third with a 4:06.97-performance.
UST still holds the record for the most number of UAAP swimming titles with 32 women’s and 30 men’s championships.
