Cabana sparks BEST's 4-gold haul in Japan

MANILA, Philippines — The Behrouz Elite Swimming Team (BEST) continued its dominance, capturing four additional gold medals, including three from Kristian Yugo Cabana, at the 2024 Buccaneer Invitational Swimming Championships being held at St. Mary's International School swimming pool in Tokyo, Japan.

Cabana, hailing from Lucena City, remained unbeaten after sweeping all three events in the boys' 13-14 category on the second day of competition.

The 14-year old Cabana dominated the competition, starting with a victorious 100m butterfly performance, clocking 58.71 seconds.

He outclassed silver medalist Nicolas Radzimski of Poland (1:02.16) and bronze medalist Luca Hashimoto of Japan (1:05.03).

Cabana's winning streak continued as he ruled the 400m Individual Medley and 100m freestyle events, completing a three-event sweep.

"I didn't expect to win all the golds. I'm thrilled that my hard work in training paid off. Hopefully, my momentum will continue since I have three more events to compete in."

Cabana will compete in three more events on the final day, aiming for gold in the 100m backstroke, 200m butterfly and 200m Individual Medley (IM).

Therese Annika Quinto also made her presence felt, winning one gold and one bronze in the girls' 13-14 division. Quinto dominated the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:40.67 and secured bronze in the 200m freestyle (2:29.08).

Besides the four golds and one bronze, the BEST squad also secured one silver medal from Juancho Jamon in the boys' 10-under 50m backstroke, and two bronze medals from Athena Custodio in the girls' 13-14 200m backstroke and Behrouz Mohammad Madi Mojdeh in the boys' 13-14 100m butterfly

The team's medal tally now stands at 5 golds, 4 silvers, and 4 bronzes, with more expected on the final day.

BEST team manager Joan Mojdeh praised the athletes' performance and eagerness to win more medals.

"The kids delivered. They're eager to win medals, and we hope to add more since they have many events left," Mojdeh said.

She also thanked the Filipino community in Tokyo and the coaches supporting the swimmers.

"We're grateful to the Filipino community here, led by Myles Beltran, Arnel Punzalan, Marilyn Yokokoji, Sheryl Alcantara Yusa, Sheryl Ballesteros, Sahlee Bucao, Endo, Shirley Dizon Yasaka, coaches Sherwyn Santiago and Jerricson Llanos, and SLP president Fred Ancheta." TMT