PHNOM PENH. – There was no rancor in Chloe Isleta’s voice when she spoke after losing her 200m backstroke title to teammate Xiandi Chua last Monday night at the Morodok Techo Sports Complex.
Instead, Isleta, 24, welcomed Chua’s triumph, the first golden win for the Philippines in the swimming competition of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games here.
“I love that Xiandi is able to be in the historic event of female athletes that won gold for the Philippines,” said Isleta.
Chua won in a new games record time of 2:13.20, eclipsing the 2:13.64 set by Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Anh Vien in 2017, and surpassing her own national mark of 2:14.96 set in the Australian Championships last April.
“I could not believe that I broke the record,” said Chua, who also won a silver medal in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay together with Jasmine Alkhaldi, Miranda Renner, and Teia Salvino. “I was more of trying to get the gold. The record was like a bonus.
“I’m really glad that my training over the months have paid off really well,” Chua said.
Isleta, who ended a nearly three-decade SEA Games gold drought for Philippine women’s swimming when she ruled the event in Vietnam last year, settled for the silver medal in 2:16.19.
“We really said one and two is our goal. There wasn’t any other option. We pushed each other,” Isleta said.
Alkhaldi also bagged a silver in women’s 100m freestyle as the Philippines raised its medal tally to seven after the first three days of the swimming competitions.
