James Deiparine falls short of PH's first swimming gold

KUALA LUMPUR — James Deiparine came close to giving the country its first swimming gold medal here in the Southeast Asian Games, losing a close battle in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke final at the National Aquatic Center late Friday.

Under the radar after qualifying eighth and last in the heats earlier in the day, Deiparine stormed out of lane 8 to take the lead, inspired likely by his parents, who watched from the stands.

The 23-year-old Washington state native seemed headed for the gold medal until Gagarin Nathaniel of Indonesia made a last-ditch effort in the final five meters to top the event in one minute and 1.76 seconds, relegating Deiparine (1:02.11) to the silver.

Still, it was the best performance thus far for the small Pinoy swimming contingent, which also picked up bronze medals courtesy of Jasmine Aklhaldi and Roxanne Yu.

A graduate of California Polytechnic State University, Deiparine might just end Philippine swimming’s gold-medal drought on the last day of the competition Saturday. He topped the men’s 50-meter backstroke heats in 28.53 seconds, 30 seconds off his personal national best.

Full Article: http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/26/17/sea-games-james-deiparine-falls-short-of-phs-first-swimming-gold