SEA Games: Chloe Isleta delivers first PH gold medal in women’s swimming

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Filipina swimmer Chloe Isleta topped the women’s 200-meter backstroke event to deliver the first gold medal for the Philippine team in the ongoing 2022 Southeast Asian Games.

Isleta clocked in 2:18:60 of time for her championship-clinching run and was only a second earlier than silver medalist Nurul Fitriyati of Indonesia.

Following the championship event, Isleta also made SEA Games history after ending team Philippines’ championship drought of 29 years.

It was way back in 1993 when a Filipina won the gold medal in the swimming event when Akiko Thompson went home with the title during the 1993 Singapore Games.

Thompson was the lone bright star during the 1993 edition and dominated both the 200-meter backstroke and the 100-meter events.

Aside from her gold medal finish in the 200-meter backstroke event, the 29-year-old superstar swimmer also impressed in the 50-meter event but only settled for the silver medal.

Isleta reclaimed glory and put her words into action after failing to grab the gold medal three years ago during the 2019 SEA Games held in the country.

Also, this was Isleta’s chance to bounce back after going home without a medal during the FINA World Swimming Championships last year held at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Isleta lost her pace during the women’s 50-meter backstroke event and only finished 21st place but was still a decent run for her first-ever World Swimming Championships stint.