Mojdeh snares 4th gold in Batang Pinoy

MANILA, Philippines: World Championships veteran Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh of Paranaque City was unstoppable after claiming her fourth gold medal in the 2023 Batang Pinoy swimming competition on Wednesday at the Teofilo Yldefonso Swimming Pool inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.

The 17-year old ‘water beast’ of Philippine swimming dominated the girls’ 400m Individual Medley with a time of five minutes and 12.63 seconds.

From left: Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh, Ruben White and Heather White CONTRIBUTED PHOTO 

It was way better than the 5:26.03 showing of silver medalist Maria Francesca Barreto and 5:29.78 of bronze winner Liaa Amoguis

“I am happy to get my personal best on my 50m fly and also in 50m breast splits of the 200m medley relay. I just tried to survive the 400m IM because I’m still a bit tired from my Winter Juniors Meet,” said Mojdeh.

The Brent International School standout earlier ruled the 50m butterfly and 200m Individual Medley, and was part of the 4x50m medley relay team.

“I am thankful to Parañaque team coaches — coach Marlon, coach John, and to BEST coaches — to coach Jek for my recovery, to coach Sherwyn, coach Jeremiah and to Bellevue club Coach Abi Liu for the continuous guidance and believe in me,” added Mojdeh.

Not to be otdone was Filipino-British Heather White who delivered her third gold medal in the tournament organized by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Also a veteran of two World Championships, White submitted 26.81 seconds to claim the top honors in the girls’ 50m freestyle event, beating Trixie Ortiguera (27.89) and Raina Leyran (28.47), who settled for silver and bronze, respectively.

The Paranaque swimming team also secured a silver and a bronze courtesy of promising tankers Behrouz Mohammad Mojdeh and Hannah White.

Behrouz Mohammad — younger brother of Micaela Jasmine — wond up second in the boys’ 200m backstroke while Hannah — younger siste of Heather — placed third in the girls’ 50m butterfly.

In Philippine National Games, Filipino-British Ruben White — the eldest of the White siblings — topped the men’s 50m freestyle in 23.85 seconds.

He defeated silver medalist Manuel Perez (24.49) and bronze medalist Jennuel De Leon (24.52).