DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Team Philippines surpassed its previous performance at the Asian Youth Para Games in just two days of competition after Ric Daniel Pasadilla and Raemond Adefuin delivered three more gold medals in para swimming at the Hamdan Sports Complex here.

Pasadilla, a 13-year-old student of Pototan National Comprehensive High School in Iloilo, dominated the boys 12-16 200-meter individual medley SM 4-14 multi-class event with a time of 2 minutes and 36.36 seconds then returned and ruled the 100m backstroke S1-2/S6-14 multi-class division with 1:11.39.

In addition to his two gold medals, Pasadilla also claimed a silver in the boys 12-16 100m freestyle S1-14 multi-class S10 with 1:06.13, just two seconds behind eventual gold medalist Sepanta Navidi of Iran (1:04.32).

Adefuin, who won the country’s first gold medal the previous day, also captured his second gold after triumphing in the boys 12-16 200m IM SM 5-14 multi-class with a time of 2:57.17 ahead of Malaysia’s Wahyu Eqwal Bin Nazrey (3:16.97) and Thailand’s Tongkunlong Chaitawittanun (4:08.92).

These victories marked the fourth gold medal for the Philippine delegation, eclipsing the overall haul from the 2021 edition in Manama, Bahrain, where they brought home one gold, six silver, and two bronze medals.

“I was very nervous because I saw my opponents and they were very lean and tall,” said Pasadilla, a multi-medalist at the 2025 Palarong Pambansa, in Filipino.