Swimmer, gymnast notch fifth golds
Sofia Garra duplicated a previous feat and remains on track to sweep all her seven events in the pool at the ongoing 2025 Palarong Pambansa.
“I’m glad to have won two more golds, one of them in record time. But how I wish we did break more records,” said Garra, who shares the limelight with gymnast Armand Hernandez Jr. as the athlete with the most number of gold medals in the Games.
Garra sank her second record in as many days after emerging triumphant in the elementary girls 200-meter (M) individual medley in two minutes and 31.41 seconds, obliterating the seven-year standard set by National Capital Region’s (NCR) Michaela Jasmine Mojdeh (2:33.12) in 2018 in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
The incoming La Salle-Araneta Grade 7 student beat NCR teammate Adrienne Reese Tacuboy (2:41.09) to the wall at the Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. swimming pool in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.
Garra, who picked up the sport over taekwondo during the pandemic, attempted to secure a third record but fell short in winning the 100m freestyle in 1:02.51, just a split-second behind the 1:02.25 mark achieved by Alexei Cabayaran of Western Visayas in 2019 in Davao.
Next for Garra
Garra’s fifth gold matched the output of Hernandez while four more athletes captured at least four golds each in the Games, showcasing the country’s finest student-athletes organized by the Department of Education and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.
“My coach said our target is to win all our seven events. I hope we can achieve it,” said the 12-year-old Garra, whose collection in the Palaro held in Cebu City last year was five golds and two silvers.
2000 Sydney Olympian and Waverunners Swimming Club coach Jenny Guerrero has been mentoring Garra since December 2023.
After the Palaro, Garra will swim in three backstroke events in the Southeast Asian Age Group Swimming Championships to be hosted by Singapore on June 19.
