2 more golds for PH team

GAINESVILLE, Georgia — The Philippines claimed two more gold medals in the 2018 ICF World Dragon Boat Championships here by winning the 10-seater and 20-seater senior mixed 200-meter races held at the Lake Lanier Olympic Park.

Led by veteran paddlers Hermie Macaranas and Mark Jhon Frias, the Filipinos sprinted to the finish with a sudden burst of speed in the final 50 meters for a 50.46-second clocking in the small boat that drew admiration from world-class rivals.

France settled for the silver medal in 53.056 seconds and towed thirdplacer Hungary (53.158), host United States (53.463), Italy (53.9) and Germany (54.437).

“On a shorter course such as the 200m, you need to produce faster and powerful strokes to become successful,” said coach Diomedes Manalo after the Philippine Canoe Kayak Dragonboat Federation paddlers surpassed their medal tally in 2016 Moscow, Russia.

The Pinoy paddlers followed exactly the game plan in capturing their fourth gold in the big boat, clocking 43.481 seconds to beat out Czech Republic (46.082) and the United States (46.146).

Besides the four gold medals, the national team supported by the Philippine Sports Commission and Go For Gold has also pocketed two silvers in the small boat senior men’s 500m and big boat senior mixed 2000m race, respectively.

They defended the 20-seater senior mixed 500m title with aplomb after kicking off their world championship campaign with a convincing win in the 10seater senior mixed 500m event.