Team Philippines claims the gold in the mixed standard boat 200m event. Handout/Philippine Canoe Kayak Federation

MANILA -- The Philippines has set a new milestone in the ICF Dragon Boat World Championships, winning four gold medals on Saturday despite the choppy conditions at the Puerto Princesa Baywalk.

The Filipino paddlers capped their golden blitz with back-to-back wins in the 40+ women's standard boat 500-meter event in two minutes and 16.32 seconds and  in the men's 40+ open men's standard boat 500-meter race in 1:59.23 of the meet organized by the Philippine Canoe Kayak Federation.

So far in the competition, the local racers have collected eight gold, six silver, and six bronze medals -- surpassing their previous best haul of five gold, one silvers and two bronzes in the 2018 edition of the dragon boat showcase in Gainesville, Georgia.

"The achievement of our paddlers yesterday (Friday) was certainly overwhelming after what happened to us on the opening day when we did not win a single gold medal," said PCKDF president Leonora "Lenlen" Escollante, who was the national coach then of the previous record.

READ: PH nabs 2 silvers, 4 bronzes at ICF Dragon Boat World Championships

"This historic accomplishment was a total team effort:  from athletes, coaches, the support staff, everyone responsible in making sure that our national paddlers would excel in this tournament," she added.

"I am now very optimistic we will add more golds to our collection before this tournament is over."

Filipino paddlers in the 10-seater mixed 200m event. Handout/Philippine Canoe Kayak Federation

The Pinoy paddlers added a quartet of silvers early Saturday morning in the 40+ 10-seater open standard boat 200-meter event in 52.72 seconds and 40+ 10-seater women's standard boat race (58.66 seconds) and junior 10-seater open (2:16.23) and junior women 500-meter runs (2:47.97).

The Filipino bets also  had an encouraging outcome in the  200-meter small boat mixed event Saturday, finishing  a close fifth place in 52.12 seconds where all six squads were virtually neck-and-neck until the last 10 meters. 

Banking on a strong finishing kick, Indonesia topped the race in 50.59 seconds while Myanmar and Chinese-Taipei were in a dead heat for runner-up honors with identical times of 51.20 seconds,  Spain took fourth spot in 51.37 seconds.  

"Talagang gitgitan, buti na lang at nakalaban kami ng sabayan at hindi bumigay," said national team skipper OJ Fuentes. 

The showing was an improvement over their 10th-place finish in the mixed 2,000-meter small boat race last Friday, the first of three events that determine the top nine countries  that will book tickets to the World Games in Chengdu, China in 2025.