Aside from winning gold medals in the recently concluded 2024 Buccaneer Invitational Swimming Championships held at St. Mary’s International School in Tokyo, Japan, three members of the Behrouz Elite Swimming Team (BEST) that gave the Philippines a 25-medal haul in the swim fest were hailed as Most Outstanding Swimmers (MOS) in their respective divisions.

Lucena City’s Kristian Yugo Cabana topped the list after accumulating 49 points to win the MOS award in the boys’ 14-year division. The 14-year-old Quezonian swimmer grabbed four golds in the 400-meter individual medley (IM), 100m in freestyle, 100-m in butterfly and 200-m IM and also one silver in 200-m butterfly and one bronze in 100-m backstroke.

Next to Cabana, Behrouz Mohammad Madi Mojdeh of Immaculate Heart of Mary College-Parañaque also got the MOS award with an accumulated 42 points for her exceptional demonstration of skill in the boys’ 13-year category which resulted in two gold medals in the 200-m breaststroke and 100-m breaststroke events, one silver medal in the 400-m IM and two bronze medals in the 200-m IM and 200-m butterfly competitions.

Therese Annika Quinto similarly excelled to earn the MOS title in the girls’ 13-year division with 40 points which she earned from her medal tally that included one gold in the 200-m backstroke, two silvers in the 400-m freestyle and 100-m freestyle events and three bronzes in the 200-m freestyle, 50-m freestyle and 100-m backstroke.

BEST team manager Joan Mojdeh expressed satisfaction with her team’s overall performance, which also gave the Philippines with three silver and two bronze medals courtesy of Clara Maligat, Juancho Jamon and Athena Custodio.

“We're pleased with our swimmers' accomplishments. We look forward to our next participation next year and hope to send an even larger contingent of athletes,” Mojdeh enthused.

The BEST delegation likewise extended its gratitude to their coaches Sherwyn Santiago and Jerricson Llanos and Swim League Philippines (SLP) president Fred Ancheta and also to the Filipino community in Japan, specifically mentioning the support given by Myles Beltran, Arnel Punzalan, Marilyn Yokokoji, Sheryl Alcantara Yusa, Sheryl Ballesteros, Sahlee Bucao Endo and Shirley Dizon Yasaka.