Southeast Asian Games record holder Xiandi Chua edged Chloe Isleta in an exciting duel of power, grace and endurance in the Philippine Aquatics Inc. 25-meter short course national trials last Tuesday at the Rizal Memorial Aquatics Center in Manila.

The 23-year-old Chua clocked two minutes and 16.22 seconds to beat fellow national team member Isleta by a razor-thin margin (2:16.35) to cop the gold medal in the girls 200-meter individual medley event.

Taking the bronze medal was Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh, who clocked 2:23.25. She, however, is already assured of a slot in the Southeast Asian Age Group Championship in Bangkok in December after breaking two SEA Age Qualifying Time Standard (QTS) in the 50-meter trials over the weekend.

Chua, a Business Entrepreneur student at De La Salle University, said she’s happy with the results but there’s still a lot of things to be done to prepare him for major international events, including the 33rd SEA Games next year.

“It’s too close, but I’m happy with my swim,” said the Melbourne-trained Chua, who posted an impressive 2:13.20 to reset the previous record of 2:13.64 in the women’s 200m backstroke event of the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia last year.

“It’s still a work in progress, especially in my underwater technique. Hopefully, I have more months to train, go back to Melbourne before the competition.”

A strong performance in this national tryout will give Chua a slot in the World Series that will be held from 18 to 20 October in Shanghai, 24 to 26 October in Incheon, and 31 October to 2 November in Singapore. The series will culminate with the championships from 10 to 15 December in Budapest.

Isleta, however, gained some measure of revenge as she clocked 1:00.31 to rule the women’s 100m backstroke over Chua, who finished with 1:01.14, and Trixie Ortiguerra, who logged 1:03.79.

Meanwhile, rising star Riannah Coleman, a Grade 9 student at the National Sports Academy, annexed another sterling performance after claiming the gold