REVOLUTION? TRY REVELATION. Twelve times in the water, three times on the mat, each one louder than the last. For the Lady Red Sea Lions and the Lady Red Jins, women’s month is not a celebration handed to them but a reckoning they have earned, stroke by grueling stroke, kick by relentless kick, evident in their champion titles earned during the first semestral half of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Season 101. 

By surging through the pool and striking down every doubt thrown their way, these women are not just writing history,  they are rewriting what it means to be a Filipina athlete. In the water and on the mat, the Lady Red Sea Lions and the Lady Red Jins carry the weight of every Filipina who dared to dream before them.

What the water carries

Before the dominance of the Lady Red Sea Lions is counted in titles, it is first felt in the water—quiet, disciplined, and deeply personal. For team captain Jindsy Azze “Azi” Dasion, the journey began not with ambition, but with influence rooted at home.

Swimming was never imposed on her; it was introduced gently, through the presence of her mother, a former national swimmer who unknowingly set the course of her daughter’s future.

“What inspired me is ‘yung mother ko po talaga,” Dasion said. “She was a former national athlete, national swimmer,  hindi niya po ako pinilit —- she just let me enjoy myself, enjoy the water.”

She started swimming when she was eight years old, recalling how admiration gradually shaped her drive. “Na-inspire lang ako sa mother ko — gusto ko din makamit ‘yung anong nakamit niya.” 

In those early years, the goal was not yet medals or recognition, but something quieter: the desire to follow a path she had learned to respect. As she grew into the sport, that personal motivation expanded into something greater. Competing at the collegiate level meant carrying not only her own aspirations, but also the sacrifices behind them. 

“‘Yung main drive ko po is my family kasi nasa malayo po sila… ‘yung sacrifices ng family ko and my sacrifice din dito,” she said, grounding her achievements in something far beyond individual success.

Still, her journey has not been free from the familiar doubts placed on women in sports. 

“Every woman naman po siguro in sport na na-experience ‘yung ganyan, ina-underestimate kasi babae,” Dasion admitted, pointing to a reality that continues to shape how female athletes are perceived. Yet, for her, these assumptions are not limits, but challenges meant to be overcome.

“Kung kaya ng men’s, kaya din ng women’s,” she affirmed, a mindset she now passes on to her teammates as captain. In her leadership, belief becomes action: visible in training, in competitions, and in the way she carries herself in a space that often questions women’s strength.

In the water, Dasion’s story is no longer just about beginnings or influence; it is about continuity. What started as a quiet introduction has become a steady twelve-title presence that now shapes the rhythm of the entire team. 

And as new swimmers enter the same lanes she once did, her journey stands not as something to replicate, but as proof that strength can be learned, carried, and eventually passed on.

Strength on the mat

If the pool is where San Beda surges, the mat is where she strikes. The Lady Red Jins have done exactly that—three consecutive times—-and newly-minted team captain Rica Antonares wears that three-peat not as a crown, but as a challenge to do it again. 

Antonares’ foundation has always been love. Not the easy kind, but the kind that holds through burnout, through bruises, through the bone-deep fatigue of a long season.

“Mahal ko talaga ‘yung Taekwondo,” she said plainly. “Kailangan may deep ka na pinanghuhugutan kasi along the way mapapagod ka, mab-burnout ka.” For Antonares, love is not a feeling—it is a decision made over and over again every time training gets hard.

The Lady Red Jins came into 2026 carrying the momentum of a successful Season 101 run, and they showed no signs of slowing down at the 2026 National CPJ Championship held March 21-22 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Now, Antonares faces a different kind of challenge. With several seniors graduating, the roster carries gaps that need to be filled and a team culture that needs to be passed on. The Lady Red Jins are in the middle of reshaping themselves —- testing new combinations, building new chemistry, finding their footing again. It is the quiet, unglamorous work that championships are actually built on. 

The next proving ground comes in the form of the Philippine Taekwondo League (PTL) this summer — a prestigious competition pitting San Beda against NCAA and UAAP schools in a showdown. “Malaking competition ‘yan sa amin,” Antonares said, the quiet fire in her voice unmistakable. For a team still finding its new shape, it is exactly the kind of pressure that forges gold. 

But Antonares is equally clear about where her strength truly comes from. Behind every kick, every medal, every title defense is a team that makes the weight lighter. “Naging mas light ‘yung environment, naging light ‘yung journey — dahil kasama ko sila,” she said of her coaches and teammates. “Very big ‘yung impact nila sa journey na tinatahak ko.” 

She has also stood at the receiving end of doubt in a sport that has long measured itself against men. Antonares knows exactly what “Babae ka lang” sounds like, and she knows exactly what to do with it. “Papatunayan ko sa inyo na hindi ako babae lang. Kaya naming mga babae.”. She didn’t argue, didn’t flinch. She simply got back on the mat and proved it. “Hindi ka babae lang — babae ka at kaya mo kung ano yung kaya rin nila.”

Built by women, for women

From mother to daughter, from captain to teammate, from one Bedan woman to the next; this is how legacies are built. Not in a single race or a single match, but in the quiet, relentless act of showing up for each other. Twelve titles in the water. Three on the mat. And still, they surge. Still, they strike.

“Have the courage to try,” Antonares says. “Dadating at dadating yung time na makukuha nyo [din] lahat ng goals nyo.” And from the pool, Dasion echoes the spirit her mother once passed to her: “I-enjoy mo lang and be grateful for every situation. What really matters in the end is you’ve learned something.”

Whether standing atop the podium or rising from defeat, they persevere —- not just for themselves, but for every young Filipina who dares to dream. Their journeys, built on sacrifice and sustained by love, are proof that strength is not measured in gender. 

As they keep shattering barriers, they remind the world that the Lioness does not wait to be heard. She roars — and in San Beda, she roars the loudest. 

(With Bianca Ashley Bitanga)