CAPAS, Tarlac -- Singapore continued to roll in the third day of the Southeast Asian Games swimming tournament at the Aquatics Center. Singapore added three golds, one silver, and a bronze to the medal tally, headlined by Joseph Schooling's 51.84-second finish, just 0.03 seconds ahead of teammate Zheng When Quah in the men's 100m butterfly.
Singapore also won the men's 200m backstroke as Zheng Wen Quah set a new SEA Games standard of 2:00.06, while Farrel Tangkas of Indonesia ended up at 2:02.75. Hoe Yean Khiew came up third at 2:03.89.
The Philippines got a silver from the men's and two more bronze medals from its distaff division. A silver medal came from the final event of the evening as Luke Gebbie, Jean-Pierre Khouzam, Maurice Ilustre, and Jarod Hatch finished the men's 4x100m freestyle relay with 3:22.32.
"There's been a lot of talk about the relay would be. I'm happy that it wasn't just us. Still have to make sacrifices for the good of our country. It's about time things have a change around here," said Jarod Hatch, who also competes for the University of California, Berkeley.
Singapore's Schooling, Quah, Mikkel Lee, and Yi Chua reset the SEA Games record, ending their stint at 3:16.82.
Filipino-American Remedy Rule claimed her third medal as she recorded 2:01.64, good enough for bronze, behind Vietnamese Thi Anh Vien Nguyen and Indonesian Natthanan Junkrajang.
Rule is satisfied with her performance, for she knew she left everything in the pool.
"I gave it my all. And I'm glad that giving my all ended up with a medal for the Philippines," the 23-year-old told reporters. "You know, I'm just happy I won a medal. I can't control my competitors and how fast they have been," she added.
Fellow Fil-Am swimmer Chloe Isleta, meanwhile got to the podium for the very first time in the women's 200m backstroke, tallying 2:18.48. She joined Nguyen of Vietnam (2:15.32) and Nurul Fitriyati of Indonesia (2:17.84).
The host country also were several milliseconds away from more bronze medals, as two races saw Filipinos just touch the pad a little bit late for a trip to the podium.
Nicole Oliva (women's 200m freestyle) and Joy Rodgers (women's 50m backstroke) had ended up at fourth.
Meanwhile, Rose Ann Ocmer finished last out of eight participants in the women's 3m springboard with a score of 172.80. Yan Yee Ng of Malaysia conquered her opponents with 298.90 points.