Daos captures SE Asia age-group swim gold

KIRSTEN Chloe Daos bagged the girls’ 16-18 200-meter butterfly gold on Sunday as the Philippines closed its campaign in the 39th SEA Age Group Swimming Championship in Danang, Vietnam.

The 16-year-old Daos clocked two minutes and 23.88 seconds, besting Chin Khar Yi (2:26.57) of Singapore and bronze medalist Angela Chieng (2:31.44) of Mal-aysia.

Counting the gold medal Rafael Barreto earlier nailed in the boys’ 14-15 50m butterfly, the Filipinos left for home with two gold, two silver and seven bronze medals.

More importantly, they buried the nightmare of a golden shutout in the same meet last year in Singapore.

Daos’ gold was the country’s first in her age bracket since 2011, when London Olympian Jasmine Alkhaldi and Jose Joaquin Gonzalez won their respective events.

Seth Isaak Martin pocketed a second bronze in the boys’ 13-under 50m backstroke, an effort matched by Althea Michel Baluyut in the girls’ 13-under 200m butterfly. June Navarro