CAPAS, TARLAC — James Deiparine ended the Philippines’ 10-year gold drought in the Southeast Asian Games, winning the Men’s 100m breaststroke, Wednesday at the NCC Aquatics Center.
The 26-year-old clocked in at a SEA Games record 1:01.46, beating Vietnam’s Thanh Bao Pham by just .46 seconds.
And the Filipino-American could not help but feel relief after two heartbreakers in Kuala Lumpur two years ago.
“Yeah, it feels really good to get gold back after two silvers in the last SEA Games. This was the ultimate goal — competing at home here in the Philippines,” he said.
This is the Philippines’ first gold in the regional meet since 2009 in Laos. Daniel Coakley (50 m freestyle); Ryan Arabejo (1500 m free); and Miguel Molina (200m and 400m individual medley) were the last golds that the Philippines tasted.
“It feels really good. I’m just speechless right now,” he said about ending the country’s hunger for gold in the sport.
Earlier, Remedy Rule’s last ditch push was not enough to topple Singaporean Jing Wen Quah in the Women’s 200m butterfly event.
Rule finished with a time of 2:10.99 — just .02 behind Quah.
