SEA Games / U.S. Open Championships
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Headlined by a pair of gold-medal swims, Purdue's Jinq En Phee medaled in all three breaststroke events for Malaysia at the 30th Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines.
Phee won her third consecutive gold in the 100-meter breast Monday with a meet-record time of 1:08.50, eclipsing her own benchmark from 2017. She also won gold in the 50-meter breast (31.40) Friday and bronze in the 200-meter breast (2:32.38) Thursday. The senior has now won seven career medals at the biennial showcase. She also won gold in the 100 and silver in the 50 at the 2015 and 2017 SEA Games. Her bronze in the 200 gave her one medal of each color at the event.
Phee is believed to be the first swimmer this century to win gold in three consecutive SEA Games in the same breaststroke event. Malaysia's Siow Yi Tang (2001-11) was a combined seven-time gold medalist in the 100 and 200 breast this century, but did not compete at the 2005 SEA Games and did not win gold in three consecutive SEA Games. Malaysia's Christina Loh (2013) was the last swimmer to win a pair of golds in the breaststroke events at the SEA Games. Loh out touched Tang in the 50 breast at the 2011 SEA Games to keep her Malaysian teammate from sweeping the breaststroke events that year. Purdue alumna Meagan Lim (Singapore) was a three-time bronze medalist at the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar.
It was a thrilling 1-2-3 finish in the 50 breast this year. With a winning time of 31.40, Phee out touched runner-up Jenjira Srisa Ard (Thailand) by .01 hundredth of a second and Christie May Mun Ee Chue (Singapore) by .03 hundredths of a second.
Chue also won the 200 breast this year. Phee (1:08.50) and Chue (1:09.06) finished 1-2 in the 100 breast Monday, joining Samantha Yeo (2017, Singapore/University of Michigan) as the only swimmers to medal in all three breaststroke events at the SEA games since 2015. Phee improved on her prelim time by 2.25 seconds after finishing second to Chue in the first of the two prelim heats.
Alumna Kaersten Meitz also enjoyed a strong showing last week at the Toyota U.S. Open Championships at Georgia Tech's McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta. She was an A finalist in her premier event, the 400-meter free, finishing third among a field of 98 swimmers in the prelims and taking sixth place overall in the final. The USA Swimming National Team member also placed eighth of 64 in the 800 free and 18th of 118 in the 200 free prelims.
After winning a pair of gold medals for the United States this summer at the World University Games in Italy, Meitz was among the favorites to medal at the USA Swimming Phillips 66 National Championships in August. However, an 11th-hour appendectomy forced her to withdraw from the meet. Meitz and Phee both competed at the FINA Swimming World Cup event in Budapest in October, combining for six top-12 finishes. Meitz won silver in the 400 free.
The Southeast Asian Games are a biennial event that debuted as the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games in 1959. The Philippines is hosting for the first time since 2005. The SEA Games features 56 sports and over 400 events, with an estimated 8,750 athletes from 11 nations – headlined by Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. China, Japan and South Korea are not represented.
This article was updated Monday, Dec. 9 with Phee's results in the 100-meter breaststroke.
JINQ EN PHEE AT 2019 SEA GAMES
• 50m Breast, 31.40 – Gold Medalist, Won Heat 2 of Prelims
• 100m Breast, 1:08.50 – Gold Medalist
• 200m Breast, 2:32.38 – Bronze Medalist
KAERSTEN MEITZ AT 2019 TOYOTA U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
• 400m Free, 4:10.67 (Prelim Time) – Finished 6th in A Final, 3rd (of 98) in Prelims
• 800m Free, 8:35.20 – Finished 8th (of 64) Overall
• 200m Free, 2:01.05 (Prelim Time) – Scratched from C Final, Finished 18th (of 118) in Prelims
JINQ'S CAREER AT THE SEA GAMES (ALL BREASTSTROKE EVENTS)
• 2019 – Gold Medalist in 50m & 100m, Bronze Medalist in 200m
• 2017 – Gold Medalist in 100m, Silver Medalist in 50m
• 2015 – Gold Medalist in 100m, Silver Medalist in 50m
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Headlined by a pair of gold-medal swims, Purdue's Jinq En Phee medaled in all three breaststroke events for Malaysia at the 30th Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines.
Phee won her third consecutive gold in the 100-meter breast Monday with a meet-record time of 1:08.50, eclipsing her own benchmark from 2017. She also won gold in the 50-meter breast (31.40) Friday and bronze in the 200-meter breast (2:32.38) Thursday. The senior has now won seven career medals at the biennial showcase. She also won gold in the 100 and silver in the 50 at the 2015 and 2017 SEA Games. Her bronze in the 200 gave her one medal of each color at the event.
Phee is believed to be the first swimmer this century to win gold in three consecutive SEA Games in the same breaststroke event. Malaysia's Siow Yi Tang (2001-11) was a combined seven-time gold medalist in the 100 and 200 breast this century, but did not compete at the 2005 SEA Games and did not win gold in three consecutive SEA Games. Malaysia's Christina Loh (2013) was the last swimmer to win a pair of golds in the breaststroke events at the SEA Games. Loh out touched Tang in the 50 breast at the 2011 SEA Games to keep her Malaysian teammate from sweeping the breaststroke events that year. Purdue alumna Meagan Lim (Singapore) was a three-time bronze medalist at the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar.
It was a thrilling 1-2-3 finish in the 50 breast this year. With a winning time of 31.40, Phee out touched runner-up Jenjira Srisa Ard (Thailand) by .01 hundredth of a second and Christie May Mun Ee Chue (Singapore) by .03 hundredths of a second.
Chue also won the 200 breast this year. Phee (1:08.50) and Chue (1:09.06) finished 1-2 in the 100 breast Monday, joining Samantha Yeo (2017, Singapore/University of Michigan) as the only swimmers to medal in all three breaststroke events at the SEA games since 2015. Phee improved on her prelim time by 2.25 seconds after finishing second to Chue in the first of the two prelim heats.
Alumna Kaersten Meitz also enjoyed a strong showing last week at the Toyota U.S. Open Championships at Georgia Tech's McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta. She was an A finalist in her premier event, the 400-meter free, finishing third among a field of 98 swimmers in the prelims and taking sixth place overall in the final. The USA Swimming National Team member also placed eighth of 64 in the 800 free and 18th of 118 in the 200 free prelims.
After winning a pair of gold medals for the United States this summer at the World University Games in Italy, Meitz was among the favorites to medal at the USA Swimming Phillips 66 National Championships in August. However, an 11th-hour appendectomy forced her to withdraw from the meet. Meitz and Phee both competed at the FINA Swimming World Cup event in Budapest in October, combining for six top-12 finishes. Meitz won silver in the 400 free.
The Southeast Asian Games are a biennial event that debuted as the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games in 1959. The Philippines is hosting for the first time since 2005. The SEA Games features 56 sports and over 400 events, with an estimated 8,750 athletes from 11 nations – headlined by Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. China, Japan and South Korea are not represented.
This article was updated Monday, Dec. 9 with Phee's results in the 100-meter breaststroke.
JINQ EN PHEE AT 2019 SEA GAMES
• 50m Breast, 31.40 – Gold Medalist, Won Heat 2 of Prelims
• 100m Breast, 1:08.50 – Gold Medalist
• 200m Breast, 2:32.38 – Bronze Medalist
KAERSTEN MEITZ AT 2019 TOYOTA U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
• 400m Free, 4:10.67 (Prelim Time) – Finished 6th in A Final, 3rd (of 98) in Prelims
• 800m Free, 8:35.20 – Finished 8th (of 64) Overall
• 200m Free, 2:01.05 (Prelim Time) – Scratched from C Final, Finished 18th (of 118) in Prelims
JINQ'S CAREER AT THE SEA GAMES (ALL BREASTSTROKE EVENTS)
• 2019 – Gold Medalist in 50m & 100m, Bronze Medalist in 200m
• 2017 – Gold Medalist in 100m, Silver Medalist in 50m
• 2015 – Gold Medalist in 100m, Silver Medalist in 50m