LSGH tankers Mojdeh, Cabana make waves in NCAA Season 102 opener
MANILA, Philippines — La Salle Green Hills (LSGH) standout Behrouz Mohammad "Madi" Mojdeh served immediate notice of his might, capturing a gold and a silver medal as the NCAA Season 102 swimming competitions kicked off at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
Mojdeh joined forces with Rodevic Gonzalvo, Gerald Esquivel, and Ram Ubiadas to seize the gold medal in the 4x50m medley relay.
The LSGH quartet clocked a blistering 1 minute and 51.82 seconds to secure top honors, outclassing Colegio de San Juan de Letran, which settled for second place at 1:55.25.
"I felt really good during the preliminaries, especially since it was my first time competing in the NCAA finals. But during warm-up, I started feeling a little heavy," Mojdeh shared.
Mojdeh added a silver medal in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:17.83, finishing behind teammate Titus Rafael Sia, who clocked an impressive 2:14.96. Aishel Cid Evangelista of Emilio Aguinaldo College placed third with 2:18.79.
"I had to quickly reset for my 200m backstroke finals because we had very little recovery time. I felt strong at the start, although I rushed some of my turns. I'm glad I still managed another personal best, a podium finish, and a relay gold with my teammates," Mojdeh said.
Mojdeh aims to add more hardware on Day 2 of the tournament, where he is set to compete in the 400m freestyle and 200m breaststroke.
"I have the 400m freestyle and 200m breaststroke next. Hopefully, I can carry today's lessons into those races and perform even better," he added.
LSGH teammate Kristian Yugo Cabana also bagged a silver medal in the 200m Individual Medley (IM) after submitting a time of 2:11.73.
"I'm really happy with my performance in the 200m IM because I improved my time a lot. I tried pushing on the breaststroke leg, and it gave me good momentum going into the freestyle and finishing strong," Cabana said.
This marked Cabana's debut appearance in the NCAA.
"It was also my first event in the NCAA, so the excitement and adrenaline were definitely there. However, I was disappointed with my 100m freestyle. My two events were scheduled back-to-back, and I felt that I didn't have enough time to fully recover," Cabana admitted.
"I believe that if I had even 15 more minutes to rest and prepare, I could have had a better chance of making the podium. Still, that's part of racing, and I have to learn how to manage these situations better."
Like Mojdeh, Cabana faces another pair of events on the second day of competition.
"I have another set of back-to-back events, so I'm hoping we'll have a little more recovery time to properly swim down and prepare for the next race. I'm determined to bounce back and give everything I have."
Earlier, Mojdeh narrowly missed the podium in the 200m IM, finishing fourth with a time of 2:13.42.
"In my 200m IM, I tried a different strategy by pushing harder on my backstroke leg, but I felt the fatigue during the breaststroke and freestyle. I also glided into the finish, which I think cost me a podium spot. I was disappointed, but I'm still happy I achieved a new personal best," Mojdeh reflected. TMT
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