By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense swimmer Carmina Sanchez Tan took home gold and silver medals in the 2025 Junior Olympic Championships held recently at the Arlington ISD Athletics Center and Natatorium in Arlington, Texas.

Tan, who hails from Negros Occidental’s Talisay City, notched her gold medal in the 15-17 women’s team free along with Karen Cho, Tori Jang and Isabelle Yang with a routine score of 192.2083.

Tan, who is under the tutelage of coaches Candy Hipp, Haley and Nikki Szekely, also won a silver medal with Cho in the 15-17 women’s duet free event, with a score of 183.9200, besting 24 other teams.

The 17-year-old swimmer also competed in the solo free event, where she finished sixth overall among 32 finalists with a final score of 155.9038.

Tan, a member of the Philippine Artistic Swimming Team, currently trains and swims for the Meraquas of Irvine, an artistic swimming team based in Irvine, California.

The competition was organized by the USA Artistic Swimming and gathered close to over 900 athletes representing different Artistic Swimming Clubs across all states in the United States.

Leading up to the competition, Tan and her team had to go through a series of qualifying competitions where only the Top 2 swimmers advanced and could qualify for the National Championships.

Among her qualifying competitions were the Junior Olympic Associations and the Junior Olympic Regionals, where she won gold and silver medals in her three events — solo free, duet free and team free.

Tan, likewise, swam for the Meraquas of Irvine in the Junior and National Artistic Swimming Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina and the West Zone Championship in San Diego, California last April and May 2025, respectively./ASC, WDJ