Teia Salvino has captured the second gold medal for the Philippine swimming team by winning the women’s 100-meter backstroke in record-setting fashion at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games held on Tuesday at the Morodok Techo Aquatics Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Salvino, a Games rookie, broke the Southeast Asian Games record of 1:01.89 set in the 2019 edition in New Clark City by Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Anh Vien with a new mark of 1:01.64.
Her time also set a new national record, surpassing Chloe Isleta’s record of 1:02.70 set in the 2022 ASEAN University Games in Thailand.
Isleta finished in fourth place with a time of 1:03.93, just a few ticks behind Indonesia’s Angel Yus who finished at 1:03.71 for the bronze.
Faith Koo of Singapore took the silver with a distant 1:03.68. In the men’s and women’s 100m butterfly events,
Jarod Hatch and Jasmine Alkhaldi added two more bronzes to the Philippines’ medal count.
Hatch set a new Philippine record with his 52.91-second finish, becoming the first Filipino to finish sub-53. Alkhaldi, on the other hand, stopped the clock at 1:00.45.
Team Pilipinas then closed the day with a good second-place finish in the Games’ first-ever mixed 4x100m medley relay with Jerard Jacinto, Thanya Dela Cruz, Hatch, and Alkhaldi stopping the clock at 3:57.01.
Singapore took the inaugural title with 3:51.720, while Thailand ended third with 3:58.18.
