Swimming at last weekend’s Sectional Championships in Indianapolis, Filipino swimmer Desirae Mangaoang set a new National Record in the 100 long course meter breaststroke, swimming a 1:11.05 in prelims at the IUPUI Natatorium.
The 16-year old added time to finish 3rd in finals in 1:11.66, but that morning swim was enough to break the old National Record of 1:11.36 set by Imelda Corazon Wistey in June of 2016. Ironically, that old record was also set at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis during the 2016 Arena Pro Swim Series.
Mangaoang trains with SwimMAC Carolina in North Carolina in the United States.
In the final, Mangaoang was swimmiing next to Jing En Phee of Malaysia, who currently swims for Purdue University. Phee won the race in 1:09.59. That experience will be valuable for Mangaoang: Phee is the defending Southeast Asian Games champion in the event, having set a Games Record in 2017 in front of a home crowd.
It took a 1:10.82 to medal at the SEA Games in 2017, though in a very tight final, the spread from 3rd to 6th was only 4-tenths of a second.
She also broke the National Record in the 200 breaststroke, swimming a 2:32.04, which broke Jaclyn Pangilinan’s 2004 National Record of 2:33.38.
Mangaoang will make her debut for the Philippines at the 43rd SEA Age Group Swimming Championships in Cambodia from June 28th-30th.