Why Fil-Am James Deiparine chose to swim for PHL

The Philippines' decade-long gold medal drought in the Southeast Asian Games swimming competition has finally ended, courtesy of James Deiparine on Wednesday.

Aside from the gold medal, Deiparine also set a new record in the men's 100-meter breaststroke of the biennial meet at the New Clark City Aquatics Center.

Deiparine, a silver medalist in the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, recorded 1:01.46 to surpass Vietnam's Nguyen Huu Viet's 1:01.60 output in 2009.

He also broke his own Philippine record of 1:02.00, which he set in the biennial meet in 2017.

Pinoy swimmer James Deiparine admits being emotional after winning the gold in men's 100-meter breaststroke and dedicates the win to his grandparents | via @glenjuego, @dzbb pic.twitter.com/oDrSRoWFyM

— GMA News (@gmanews) December 5, 2019

But why did the Filipino-American swimmer choose to compete for the country?

"My grandparents told me when I was six years old to never forget where I came from," he said in an interview with DZBB reporter Glen Juego.

Deiparine added his grandparents always wanted him to represent the Philippines in the international landscape.

"So this win is for them because they're no longer with us," he said.

Deiparine, however, also said he couldn't have done it without the support of the Filipinos.

"You guys cheering just fires up the whole team," he said.

The last time the Philippines won in the swimming competition was in 2009 after Miguel Molina bagged gold medals in the men's 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley.

David Coakley and Ryan Arabejo also captured gold in the men's 500-meter freestyle and 1500-meter freestyle, respectively.

FULL COVERAGE: 30th Southeast Asian Games on GMA News Online

—MGP, GMA News