MANILA, Philippines – Filipino swimmer Jessie Lacuna competed in the 200m freestyle event at the Aquatics Center on Sunday morning, July 29.
Bulacan-born Lacuna, 18, finished 36th out of 40 with a time of 1:52.91. Lacuna qualified for the Games after a qualifying team of 1:52.23.
The youngest athlete representing the Philippines in London, failed to accomplish his goal of beating his personal best time of 1:50.90, which is also the Philippine record.
In the qualifying rounds, China’s Yang Sun finished first with 1:46.24, followed by American Ryan Lochte’s 1:46.45 and Yannick Agnel of France with his 1:46.60.
Lacuna is currently the fastest swimmer in the Philippines, initially proving his skill at the second Philippine Nationals Games, where he bagged six gold medals.
Since then, Lacuna also earned multiple medals at the Southeast Asian Games, including a silver medal in 2011. He also topped the Singapore Youth Olympic Games in 2010, where he simultaneously broke swimmer Miguel Molina’s Philippine record for the 200-meter freestyle event.
Lacuna has no other events he is scheduled to swim.
Archers struggle
On Friday, July 27, Pinoy archers Mark Javier and Rachel Anne Cabral also competed in the qualifying rounds for their respective individual events.
Javier finished 55th of 64, with a score of 649, while Cabral scored a 627 and landed 48th of 64.
Their less than stellar performances puts them in a difficult position as they face off with tough competition.
Cabral faces off in the elimination round with Russia’s Inna Stepanova who ranked 17th on Tuesday, July 31, while Javier will meet 10th placer Brady Ellison of the USA, on Wednesday, August 1.
During his second Olympic outing in Beijing, Javier came in 52nd overall amongst 64. Cabral on the other hand finished 6th in her group at the World Archery Championship in Utah, clinching an Olympic spot.
Learn more about the Philippine athletes here.- Rappler.com
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