PHNOM PENH — A silver and a bronze raised hopes of a decent finish for the Philippines in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games swimming competition last Saturday at the Morodok Techo Sports Complex here.

The men's team had a promising start after Jerard Jacinto copped the bronze in the 100m backstroke with a time of 55.99, breaking his own national record of 56.27 set in the 2019 World Junior Championships.

Singapore's Quah Zheng Wen ruled the event in 55.22, while Indonesia's Farrel Armandio Tangkas clocked 55.80 for the silver.

Jacinto's bronze is the men's squad's first medal since the 2019 SEA Games after it was left holding an empty bag in Vietnam, where the Philippines finished last in swimming with one gold, three silvers, and three bronzes — all coming from the women's crew.

"I think it's a very good sign," said national head coach Archie Lim. "It shows that if you really try, if you really push it, there's always a chance. It shows that he took a chance and got a medal."

The quartet of Teia Salvino, Miranda Renner, Xiandi Chua and Jasmine Alkhaldi ended the day on a high by taking the silver in the women's 4x100m freestyle, clocking 3:47.96.

Singapore finished over two seconds faster at 3:44.29 for the gold, while Thailand bagged the bronze in 3.50.01.