More surviving members of the Ateneo de Manila University Men’s Basketball Team shared their accounts of the tragic incident in Aurora that claimed the lives of two teammates during a team-building camp on June 8.
Speaking during a town hall meeting at tge Leong Hall of the campus on Tuesday, players Jared Bahay, Andrew Bongo, and Ian Espinosa recounted the events that unfolded during a water-based training activity at the camp.
According to Bahay, the players had no access to their mobile phones because these had been confiscated the night before, leaving the team with little sense of time throughout the camp.
Bongo added former head coach Tab Baldwin asked which members of the team did not know how to swim. He identified Divine Adili as one of those who could not swim, while teammate Rene Baterbonia knows how to swim.
The players said the training activity involved jogging in the water near the shoreline under the supervision of coaches stationed along the shore. The instructions, they said, were to jog while coaches monitored them from nearby, but conditions changed due to stronger waves.
“The waves came and we didn’t know that we were being pulled farther out,” Bahay recalled. He said coaches later instructed the players to move toward the shallower area.
Espinosa said he eventually found himself floating in deeper water. Because he was at the front of the group, he was not immediately aware of what was happening behind him.
Bahay said panic began to set in when the players realized they were no longer making progress despite swimming back toward shore.
“While we were swimming back to the shallow part, we noticed that we were not moving anymore,” he said.
Espinosa then turned around and noticed several teammates still struggling in the water. He swam back to check on them and said the first person he saw was Kyle Gamber, who was shouting for help.
At the same time, Bahay said he was attempting a breaststroke when his foot began cramping, prompting him to seek assistance from another teammate.
As players tried to help one another, Bahay said they encountered teammates who had already reached shore and were visibly distressed. He recalled seeing Kiefer Alas crying, while teammate EJ Kapihe repeatedly said, “Divine’s gone, bro. Divine’s gone.”
“I thought EJ didn’t see Divine, but in this scenario he already saw Divine floating and he didn’t know how to swim at all,” Bahay said.
According to Bahay, Kapihe did everything he could to help Adili and attempted to bring him back to shore, but Adili was already unconscious.
After learning what had happened, Bahay said he immediately informed Coach Tab Baldwin, who then sought assistance from another coach.
“Everybody panicked because they didn’t know who was missing,” Bahay said.
Espinosa also recounted seeing teammate Baterbonia behind him during the ordeal. He said Baterbonia was swimming breaststroke and shouting. Espinosa told him to keep jumping in the water to stay afloat.
“Nakita ko si Rene sa likod na [nag-breaststroke at sumisigaw.] Tapos sinabihan ko na tumalon ka lang,” Espinosa said.
“After a few minutes, we saw Rene floating with purple lips. Afterwards, Coach Tab told Espinosa to keep his fellow teammates away from the actual scene. They did CPR to Rene,” Bahay added.
Bahay said the athletes struggled to react because events unfolded so quickly. After reaching shore, players learned that several teammates were still unaccounted for, prompting some to return to the beach area to search.
Following the incident, 18 players gathered at a swimming pool area where Coach Reynaldo “Jon” Jacinto Jr. informed them of what had happened. The athletes were then allowed to contact their parents.
The players also said Baldwin returned about an hour later after accompanying Adili and Baterbonia to the hospital.
The accounts provided by Bahay, Bongo, and Espinosa came just hours after teammates Kieffer Alas and Sam Reyes were interviewed in a podcast with journalist Pia Hontiveros. (AC)
The post Bahay, Espinosa recall attempts to save Adili, Baterbonia first appeared on Fastbreak.
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