Lofranco defends indoor rowing title

After two days of intense competition, the Philippine Rowing Association (PRA) honored the elite rowers who triumphed during the 2026 PRA Indoor Meet presented by the Philippine Sports Commission on Sunday at the University Hotel inside the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman.

With a surge of entries in this year’s edition, the tournament witnessed the best of the best step into the podium.

In the men’s open solo 1000-meter event, Leo Lope Lofranco successfully defended his title after clocking in 3:06.0 seconds, dominating John Martin De Jesus (3:09.2) and Vincent Chua (3:17.0).

The businessman shared that this is his “side quest” and snatching the gold for the second-straight year was tough.

“I feel very fulfilled. Of course, defending this title did not come so easy. I actually trained quite a lot because I really thought that this year's competition will be a lot tougher and tighter and there's gonna be a lot of players from different sports coming in,” Franco said.

Playing as a varsity of rowing for the Ateneo de Manila University before, Lofranco shared how the sport already grew.

“With all the numbers you see in rowing, it just shows how honest it is, you know. It will really measure your technique, how strong you are, how fast you are, how much you can maintain that kind of power all throughout the whole race and you don't gas out, you know, at the last 300 meters, right? So, yeah, it's really a sport that requires a lot of time and dedication.”

The women’s edition saw Madelyn Veluz tapped in first with a time of 4:08.4 seconds, while Alexandria Muyot was just a second shy after finishing 4:09.6, to place second. Kat Santos rounded out the podium in 4:15.7.

In the Under-21 men’s division, Stephen Andre Trovela topped the field with 3:16.6. Clark Tito placed second at 3:21.0, and Miguel Cuales secured third with 3:21.5.

Standout Andrea Daquigan finished first in 3:55.6, in the U21 women’s division. Jasmine Regio followed at 3:56.2, while Ashley Dy claimed third place with 4:09.9.

The 47-year-old Rolando Isidro snatched a gold medal in the master men’s 500m event with a time of 1:33.3.

Jose Galvadores (1:34.7) took the silver , and Joel Bagasbas (1.35.1) secured the bronze, all within a tight margin.

Joni Muyot took control in the women’s 500m event after tallying

Experience was on full display as Joni Muyot won the event with a time of 2:01.0 as Lovely Camino followed in 2:05.6, while Ma Cecilia Vasquez finished third at 2:05.7 in a close battle for second and third.

In the group event, Grail x Maharlika (B) emerged victorious after finishing in 6:46.7 in the novice mixed team relay 2000m event. PROGYM B followed closely at 6:51.7, while Grail x Maharlika (A) secured third in 6:53.7.

Grail x Maharlika B is composed of Vince Quedangan, Ray Andrew Buensuceso, Hannah Donato and Juliana Elaria; PROGYM B bannered Efreihm De Guzman, Paolo Lagonoy, Sabrina Tabeta and Martha Malabanan; Grail x Maharlika A showed Bon Jovi Bernardo, Adolfo Pe, Kimberly Bernardo, and Alyssa Marie Reyes.

Closing out the event, the Advanced Mixed category featured top-tier performances but ART V1 dominated with a winning time of 6:36.0, followed by ART V2 in 6:54.3. OAR Siargao completed the podium at 6:55.9.

ART V1 rowed its way to gold with Jasper Brent Go, Roperto III Dungca, Stephanie Domingo and Veramae Cabato; ART V2’s Jonathan Reyes, Tomas Romano, Ashley Dy, and Jasmine Regio clocked a time enough for silver, OAR Siargo is composed of, Vincent Chua, Arjun Ortohan, Madelyn Veluz and Grace Secadron.