SINGAPORE — The oldest standing Southeast Asian Games swimming record, incidentally held by a Filipino, finaly feel on Monday.
Singapore’s Quah Zheng Wen won the 200-meter backstroke before home fans, clocking two minutes, .55 seconds to set a new SEA Games record in the event.
The previous record was held by no other than Filipino swimmer Ryan Papa, who set the olf record of 2:00.96 seconds during the 1997 edition of the conclave in Jakarta.
Papa was one of the spearheads of the successful Philippine swimming teams of the 1990s and his SEA Games record that stood for 18 years proved how good he was.
In his Facebook page, Papa, now based in the US, said he holds no ill feelings now that his SEA Games mark was finally broken.
“Records were meant to be broken. I didn't think my 200m back SEA Games record would last this long. After 18 years, it finally goes down. Congratulations Zheng Quah!” wrote Papa.
So far, the Philippines has collected five bronze medals in the swimming competition. But gold medals, unlike in Papa’s era, continued to be elusive.
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