Wachter siblings triumph in Pinamungajan swimfest

Bobyn (left) and Robyn Wachter. | Photo from Gillian Aliganga

CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Wachter siblings, Bobyn and Robyn, of the Talisay Luigi Triathlon Group (TLTG) emerged the top two finishers in the 15-years old and below category, three-kilometer distance of the recently concluded PJ Garcia Open Water Swimming Challenge in Pinamungajan town, southwestern Cebu.

After reviewing the official results, organizers declared the Wachter siblings the top two winners in their category of the competition held last Saturday, June 5, 2021.

Initial results published by the organizers last Sunday, June 6,  saw Zurielle Kenzie Galo winning the category but this was immediately reversed after a review.

Gillian Aliganga, the mother of the Wachters, protested the results after claiming that her daughters grabbed the first and second places in the category.

According to team TLTG’s chief trainer Roland Remolino, the Wachter siblings were originally registered in the 2k distance but transferred to the 3k at the last minute, even paying an additional fee for the registration.

Remolino suspected that his two swimmers’ information in their registration were not updated on the organizers’ end, which led to the errors in the results.

Upon careful review backed up by a video recorded by Aliganga, it was proved that Bobyn and Robyn won the competition fair and square in the 3k category. This was verified by the organizers.

Ella Sarmago of the organizing committee admitted the errors on their end, which they immediately corrected.

“The tabulators interchanged the rankings. And we’ve verified it three times with the technical team, and we also have the videos to prove it too,” Sarmago told CDN Digital. 

The 12-year-old Bobyn finished the swim in 51 minutes and 32 seconds followed by her old sister Robyn, who placed second  with a  time of 51:50. Galo wound up third with a time of 54:02.

With this, team TLTG hauled 11 first place finishes all-in-all in the open-water swimming competition 

READ: Talisay Luigi Triathlon Group dominates Pinamungajan’s open swim challenge

Andrew Kim Remolino and Raven Faith Alcoseba dominated the 3k open. The rest of team TLTG’s first placers in the 3k distance are Renz Wynn Corbin (16-25 years old), Matthew Justine Hermosa (15-years old below), Fionna Alcoseba (16-25 years old), and Bobyn Wachter. 

Meanwhile, Jacob Kennedy Lipura (2k open), Nicole Del Rosario (16-25 years old), Jeanna Mariel Cañete (15-years old below), Carron Paulter Cañas (15-years old below), and Rue Reinhardt Pañibon (26-25 years old) are the top placers in the 2k distance.

/bmjo