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Paolo Miguel Lim Labanon of Davao City capped off his final Palarong Pambansa appearance in spectacular fashion, smashing a nine-year-old record in the secondary boys' 800-meter freestyle. He clinched his fourth gold medal in the 2024 Palaro edition at the Cebu City Sports Center late Sunday afternoon, July 14.
Labanon, a 17-year-old incoming 12th grader at Mapua Malayan Colleges Mindanao (MMCM), clocked an impressive eight minutes and 49.97 seconds (8:49.97), breaking the 8:50.34 record set in 2015 by National Capital Region's (NCR's) Sacho Ilustre.
The Dabawenyo swimming sensation outperformed Anton Paulo Dominick Della of Ilocos Region and Aishl Cid Evangelista of NCR who settled for the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Della finished in 8:51.87 while Evangelista timed at 9:10.57.
He set the new record following a silver medal finish in the secondary boys' 200-meter freestyle event with a time of 1:58.21. Calabarzon's Albert Jose Amaro II (1:58.15) clinched the gold while Dabawenyo Ateneo de Manila University swimmer Ivo Nikolai Enot (2:01.10), representing NCR, took the bronze.
In an interview with SunStar Davao, he said, "I wasn't preparing for my 200m freestyle. I was saving my best for last. My 800m freestyle feat is my first and last Palaro record."
He was thrilled to celebrate this career milestone with his parents, grandparents, and relatives from Cebu City who cheered for him from the stands. He had previously cited them as his number-one fans.
His mother, Jette, also echoed this sentiment. "After swimming the 200m freestyle, he told me, `Ma, I'm saving the best for last.'"
In addition to his 800m freestyle victory, Labanon also secured two bronzes in the secondary boys 4X50m medley relay and 4X100m medley relay with Ateneo de Davao University's Jabahri Dilangalen and Pietro Dominic Requiza, and Tagum City National High School's Niel Joaquin Tebar.
"After all these years of joining the Palaro, I can say that I did my best for the previous years," he said. "I hope I can continue to break more records and keep myself humble at any time and always commit everything to my Lord Savior Jesus Christ."
With his four golds, one silver, and two bronzes, Labanon will receive an estimated P204,000 in cash incentives.
Like in previous years, a Davao City Palaro gold medalist will be awarded a cash bonus of P40,000, with P25,000 coming from DepEd Davao Region and P15,000 from DepEd Davao City. Silver and bronze medalists will receive P17,000 (P5,000 from DepEd Davao Region, P12,000 from DepEd Davao City) and P11,000 (P3,000 from DepEd Davao Region, P8,000 from DepEd Davao City) respectively. Labanon said he received another P5,000 for breaking a record.
"I will save most of my cash incentives and use some money to celebrate my small winnings," he added.
When asked about plans, he replied that the Southeast Asian (SEA) tryouts in August will be his next tournament.
At Cebu City's Don Carlos Gothong Memorial National High School, where the Davao Eagles are housed, on Sunday evening, Department of Education (DepEd) Davao regional director Allan Farnazo hugged and congratulated Labanon, thanking him for representing the Davao Region. MLSA