James Deiparine of the Philippines wins decade-gold medal in swimming after he ruled the 100-meter breaststroke held at Aquatics Center, New Clark City, Capas, Tarlac, December 4, 2019. INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
The Philippines ended its decade-long gold medal drought after James Deiparine ruled the men’s 100-meter breaststroke final Wednesday in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
The Fil-American Deiparine, who hails from Seattle, clocked 1:01.46 to give the country its first gold medal in the sport since 2009.
His impressive performance also set a new SEA Games record, erasing the 1:01.60 clocking of Nguyen Huu of Vietnam in 2009.
Vietnam’s Thanh Bao Pham came in second at 1:01.92 while Chien Yin Lionel Khoo rounded out the podium with 1:01.98.
Earlier, Philippines’ Remedy Rule narrowly missed the gold to Singapore’s Jing Wen Quah by .02 seconds in the 200m women’s butterfly event.
Jasmine Alkhaldi also brought home the bronze in 100m women’s freestyle.