KRISTINE PARAON won a gold medal and a silver to lead the country’s successful campaign in the recent hybrid World Rowing Indoor Championships (WRICH).
Only 20, Paraon topped the 2,000 meters and 500 meters event in the women’s 19-20 age category of the event, the first hybrid competition in WRICH history.
Tokyo Olympian Cris Nievarez and Athens Greece Tolentino placed third in the 2,000 meters and lightweight 500 meters in the men’s 21-22 age group for the country’s bronze medals.
The hybrid competition was supervised in Mississauga, Canada, with the Filipino rowers, including student athletes from Ateneo de Manila University, competing from the national rowing association’s headquarters inside the La Mesa Dam compound in Quezon City.
Paraon, Nievarez and Tolentino qualified for the hybrid world championships later this year along with Roque Abala Jr., Edgar Ilas, Christian Joseph Jasmin, Feiza Lenton, Amelyn Pagulayan, Kharl Julianne Sha and Zuriel Sumintac.
The student athletes from Ateneo who competed in the event were Emilia Abalos, Mariana Hermoso, Carmela Miranda, Alynn Pagayatan, Joseph Andaya, JC Berdin, Rupert Custodio, Nico Duque, Jasper Go, Shaun Tan, Gian Largo and Lorenzo Caballa.