Not bad for a first-timer.

That’s the post-campaign assessment of Joanie Delgaco’s coach, Ed Maerina, following her elimination from the Paris Olympics women’s single sculls quarterfinal Tuesday.

The 26-year-old rower from Iriga, Camarines Sur reached the end of the line after finishing sixth in Heat 3 of the quarterfinals.

Delgaco clocked in seven minutes and 58.30 seconds, more than 24 seconds too slow to crack into the top three spots which make semifinals.

Tokyo Summer Games gold medalist Emma Twigg of New Zealand topped Heat 3 with a time of 7:26.89 minutes while Aurelia-Maxima Katharina Jansen of Switzerland came in at second place after clocking in 7:31.12 minutes.

Virginia Diaz Rivas of Spain clinched the third and last semifinals slot in the heat with a time of 7:34.01 minutes.

Delgaco started out her campaign at the fourth place in the opening heats after clocking in 7:56.26 minutes in the preliminaries last Saturday.

She did bounce back in Sunday’s repechage after submitting a time of 7:55.00 minutes to reach the quarterfinals.

Despite the loss, national team coach Maerina told DAILY TRIBUNE he is still proud of his ward’s achievement in her debut in the Summer Games.

After all, Delgaco is the only female Filipino rower to make it to the quarterfinals and the second Filipino rower overall to reach that far alongside Cris Nievarez, who first pulled it off in the Tokyo Games in 2021.

“She fought really strong opponents in the heats. This is a good experience for her in competing in the Olympics for the first time,” said Maerina, who knows the toughness of the field after competing in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Despite already being eliminated for medal contention, Delgaco will remain in Paris for the semifinal C/D or the classification races on Wednesday at 4:14 p.m. (Manila time).