Teia Salvino wins PH’s second SEA Games 2023 swimming gold in record time
Southeast Asian Games – Swimming – Morodok Techo National Aquatics Centre, Phnom Penh, Cambodia – May 9, 2023 Philippines’ Teia Isabella Dunlap Salvino poses with the gold medal after winning the women’s 100m Backstroke final REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa
PHNOM PENH—Teia Isabella Salvino secured the country’s second gold medal in swimming with a record-setting win in the women’s 100m backstroke on Tuesday night in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games at the Morodok Aquatic Centre here.
The United States-based Salvino reached the wall in one minute and 1.64 seconds, eclipsing the previous standard of Nguyen Thi Anj Vien (1:01.89) that the Vietnamese accomplished during the 2017 Malaysia Games.
“Breaking the record wasn’t my goal, I just swam as fast as I could and got rewarded,’’ said Salvino, who currently ranks 53rd in the United States while swimming for the University of Alabama.
Singapore’s Faith Khoo got the silver medal in 1:03.68 while Indonesia’s Angel Gabriella Yus checked in third with a 1:03.71 clocking.
Salvino’s victory duplicated Xiandi Chua’s record-shattering gold in the women’s 200m backstroke on Monday night.
Chua won the bronze on Tuesday in the women’s 400m individual medley with a time of four minutes and 52.08 seconds.
Jasmine Alkhaldi and Jarod Hatch also padded the Philippines’ medal haul in swimming with bronzes in women’s and men’s 100m butterfly events.
Alkhaldi and Hatch joined Jerard Jacinto and Thanya Dela Cruz in clinching a silver medal in the mixed 4x100m medley relay.
