Quah Zheng Wen becomes only fourth Singaporean swimmer to bag SEA Games backstroke double
Eu Seong Chin first did it in 1965, while Alex Chan and David Lim replicated the same feat in 1967 and 1969, and 1987 and 1989, respectively.
Last night, Quah Zheng Wen became only the fourth male Singapore swimmer to claim both the South-east Asia (SEA) Games 100m and 200m backstroke gold medals, when he clocked a Games record time of 2 min 0.55sec to claim the 200m gold last night.
He also rewrote his old national mark of 2:01.18, and the Games record of 2:00.96, set by Philippines' Raymond Papa in 1997.
Zheng Wen had claimed the gold in the 100m last Saturday.
"Today was one of the hardest days for me, my two events were closest to each other than the other days, and they were pretty tough events at that," said Zheng Wen, who also won silver in the men's 200m butterfly with a time of 1:56.79.
"I think my coach (national coach Sergio Lopez) expected me to break it (the Games record), but I didn't even look at it before,
"I am pretty satisfied with my performance overall, it's still a win for Team Singapore, even if I didn't go as fast as I wanted to.
"But completing today is definitely a load off my shoulders."
Indonesian swimmers have claimed the golds in the 200m back for the past two editions of the Games - I Gede Siman Sudartawa in 2011 and Ricky Anggawijaya in 2013.
But Anggawijaya (2:03.03) managed only a bronze medal last night, while his teammate Sudartawa was sixth in 2:07.03.
The double backstroke victories have given Zheng Wen, the middle of three swimming siblings, a confidence boost for the rest of his events, especially the 50m back on Thursday.
Zheng Wen said: "My win today is really encouraging and really gives bodes well for the 50m back on the last day.
"I will definitely turn up my game and continue winning for Singapore."
Completing the treble in the backstroke events will be unprecedented in Singapore's SEA Games history, and his main foe, 2011 champion Sudartawa has said that he is stronger in the shorter events.
But Zheng Wen said: "I think I have the strength to take him on in this Games.
"I am a little stronger and my preparations have been better (than they were in previous Games).
"I wouldn't worry too much about it."
Singapore lead the medal table in swimming after at the half-way mark of the competition, with 11 golds, seven silvers and four bronzes, after yesterday's whopping haul of six golds, three silvers and a bronze in seven races.
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