The 29-year-old gold medal drought for Filipina swimmers is finally over.
Chloe Isleta conquered the women’s 200-meter backstroke event of the 31st Southeast Asian Games with a time of 2:18.60, Monday at the My Dinh Water Sports Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam.
(C) Philippine Swimming Inc
This is the first time a Filipino female brought home a SEA Games title since Akiko Thompson ruled the very same event in the 1993 Singapore Games, along with the 100-meter event of the same stroke.
Isleta, who made a good run in the World Swimming Championships (25m) last year, earlier topped the preliminaries with 2:25.14.
This is also the country’s 30th gold here in Vietnam.
Indonesia’s Nurul Fajar Fitriyati finished with the silver with 2:19.79, while Thailand’s Mia Millar took the bronze with 2:19.90.
Isleta and Jess Geriane, who won silver in the 50-meter event, will both compete in the 100-meter on Tuesday.
