Ilustre up to par with Lacuna in 200m freestyle

LOS BAñOS – Veteran internationalist Jessie Lacuna bucked a bum stomach and former Palarong Pambansa champion Maurice Sacho Ilustre finished tied for first in the thrilling men’s 200-meter freestyle finals of the Philswim Swimming Championships at the Trace College pool here yesterday.

Just out of the hospital early Friday due to food poisoning, Lacuna gamely matched Ilustre stroke for stroke in the last 10 meters, touching pads simultaneously in a time of 1:54.44 seconds to share the gold in the meet supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission.

In a gesture of sportsmanship, the Rio Olympics veteran applauded Ilustre’s plucky performance while showing obvious relief in dodging the bullet in Day 2 of the competition organized by the Philippine Swimming, Inc.

Singapore Southeast Asian Games veteran Axel Ngui, who led both swimmers in the last 50 meters, faded to third (1:55.17)

“I had food poisoning following a buffet dinner last Tuesday and was in the hospital until Friday morning,” Lacuna bared. “I wanted to come over here from Manila but my parents advisedme to rest longer so I just arrived here this morning.”

“After the trials in the morning, my only thought was no longer about my time but to finish first because I knew I would be criticized had I lost,” said the Ateneo U senior, whose personal best in the event is 1:50.08.

Lacuna, however, tipped his hat off to Ilustre, saying: “Sacho just keeps on getting better and better. I hope he makes the cut for the Malaysia SEA Games.”

“This (gold) feels great and give me hope I hope I can accomplish what Jessie has already achieved,” said Ilustre, a three-time Palarong Pambansa MVP. “But I need to work harder.”

Fil-Am swimmer Nicole Oliva, who was discovered by PSI secretary general Lani Velasco three years ago, boosted her output to four golds, adding the women’s 200-meter freestyle (2:06.04) and 200-meter backstroke (2:23:09) titles to her collection.

In overnight results, Ngui held off Ilustre and Kevin Lua in topping the men’s 50-meter freestyle race in 24.24 seconds, with Ilustre and Lua sharing the silver with similar clockings of 24.67 seconds.

Rafael Barreto ruled the men’s 100-meter butterfly race in 56.79 seconds, barely missing the qualifying standard of 56.135 seconds for the world junior swimming championships in Indianapolis, Indiana in August.