FILE: Ojay Fuentes (left) and Hermie Macaranas. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Ojay Fuentes has again cemented his status as the nation’s top paddler, netting a pair of gold medals at the recent International Canoe Competition in Poland.

“It was practically the result of daily training and hard work plus the sacrifice,” said the 27-year-old Fuentes after pocketing the men’s 200-meter and 500m canoe titles against a slew of European contenders.

Team Philippines likewise sparkled on the continental level lately after the Filipino paddlers amassed six gold medals plus one silver and a bronze at the 2025 ICF Dragon Boat World Cup held in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, China.

The team topped the 10-seater mixed 200m, 10-seater open 200m, 10-seater mixed 500m, eight-seater mixed 200m, 500m and 2000m races aside from a silver in the eight-seater open 2000m and a third-place performance in the 10-seater men’s 500m.

Fuentes ascribed the double victory to his intensified overseas training in Poland bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Canoe Kayak Dragonboat Federation (PCKDF).

“The training camp not only made me stronger physically, but mentally as well. I’ve become more confident in the races where I participated,” said the former Asian Cup and Southeast Asian Games podium finisher.

Fuentes stayed in Poland for two weeks together with Neljohn Fabro and Janus Ercilla as the national team braced for high-caliber races ahead.

They’re on their way back to the country for the renewal of their visas to again set up training camps in Italy and Poland in preparation for the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Milan this August.

“These foreign exposures are a must for our national paddlers. They will be able to gauge themselves against the best competition in the world,” said PCKDF president Leonora Escollante, who also sits as a member of the Philippine Olympic Committee board.