Local bets make presence felt 

Unheralded local bets Billie Blu Mondonedo, Maxene Hayley Uy, Sophie Rose Garra, and Liv Abigail Florendo delivered impressive performances in the final day of the Philippine Aquatics, Inc. (PAI) 50-meter long course National Trials at the Rizal Memorial Aquatic Center in Manila.

The 17-year-old Mondonedo, a Filipino born in the United States, fortified her inclusion in the national team with an astonishing performance in the girls 16-18 100-meter freestyle by clocking 56.64 seconds to crush the Southeast Asian Age Qualifying Time Standard (QTS) of 58.41 seconds.

Trained by the Sandpipers of Nevada program in Southern California, Mondonedo bested her teammate Arabella Nadeen Taguinota, who notched a time of 1:01.13, and Asian Age Group Championship campaigner Trixie Ortiguerra of Tarlac Mako, who clocked 1:01.62, to claim her third QTS gold medal. The event served as a selection process for national squads heading to various international events, including the December SEA Age Group tilt in Bangkok, Thailand.

Mondonedo completed her mastery in the freestyle with victories in the 50m (26.48 seconds) bettering the QTS of 27.05 seconds, as well as the 200m (2:08.34), eclipsing the 2:09.09 standard time in the four-day event.

“It’s a dream come true. One at a time, until I reach my goal to compete in a high-level competition, hopefully the Olympics in the future,” Mondonedo said.

Uy, Garra, and Florendo also shone, making it into the training pool with respectable showings in their respective classes after faltering during the first three days of competition.

The 15-year-old Uy of the NOGCC Team topped the girls' 14-15 50m backstroke clocking 31.15 seconds to better the 31.36 seconds QTS; Garra claimed her place in the team by breaking the QTS of 1:09.52 in the girls-11-13 100m back with a time of 1:08.98; and Florendo came out big in the girls 11-13 200m butterfly shuttering the QTS (1:09.52) with a time of 1:08.98.

“We’re happy to see some unfamiliar names breaking the standard time in the trials,” PAI secretary general Eric Buhain said.

“This only proves that PAI swimming club members are seriously adopting the training program we crafted and distributed throughout our regional areas. We will review the results so that we will see where we can include other gold medals who failed to reach the QTS," he added.