| Swimming last night turned in two more golden finishes to emerge as the biggest contributor to the Philippines ' coffers in the 24 th Southeast Asian Games in Thailand .
James Walsh shattered the six-year-old SEAG mark in the 200m butterfly mark on his way to a golden finish at the His Majesty the King's 80 th Anniversary Aquatics Center in Nakhon Ratchasima.
Walsh clocked 2 minutes, .45 seconds to eclipse the old mark of 2:01.84 set by Malaysia 's Anthony Ang in 2001 in Kuala Lumpur .
Adding strength to the Philippines campaign was the 4x100m medley relay squad, which ensured that the swim team climaxed its campaign with an emphatic victory.
The relay team clocked 3:49.24, ahead of Indonesia and Singapore .
The other swimming gold medalists were Miguel Molina, winner of the 200m breastroke, 200m and 400m individual medley, Ryan Arabejo, 1500m freestyle and 200m backstroke champion, and Daniel Coakley, the new SEA Games record holder in the 50m free.
Over at the tracks, Julius Nierras lived up to his billing, topping the 400m race in 46.56 seconds late yesterday to complement the golden finishes of Alfie Catalan in the men's individual pursuit in cycling and Amaya Paz in women's compound archery and men's epee fencing team.
Counting the swimmers' wins, the Philippines hauled seven golds – one more than Monday – for 29 golds but remained in fifth, just a gold behind Malaysia .
It's all over but the celebration for host Thailand , which accumulated 95 golds as of 8 p.m. last night. Vietnam and Singapore are in second and third, respectively.
Bacoleño boxer Albert Pabila settled for a bronze, after absorbing an 8-18 defeat at the hands of Thailand 's Amnat Ruenroeng in the lightflyweight semifinals yesterday.
In boxing, Bacolod 's Mitchel Martinez seeks a second SEAG gold medal today when she battles Thailand 's Sumitra Ngoksungnoen in the lightweight finals.
Junel Cantancio of Bago City reached the finals of the bantamweight division after beating Quoc Viet Tran, 20-13. He will face Olympic silver medalist Woorapoj Petchkoom for the gold on Thursday.
Another Bagoeño, Joegen Ladon set up a grudge match with Pichai Sayota, following a 16-3 triumph over Paulus Paunandes of Malaysia in the lightweight semifinals.
Ladon lost by points in controversial fashion when he fought Sayota in the Bacolod SEA Games finals two years ago.
In softball, the Philippine team, powered by Bacoleñas Yocel Aguilar, Mary Joy Lasquite, Sheirylou Valenzuela, Sarah Jane Agravante, Nelsa Delagente and Cloiene Muyco, stayed undefeated heading into the semifinals today.
Meanwhile, Bacoleña Michelle Laborte and Michele Carolino kissed their title hopes goodbye after suffering a straight-sets loss to Indonesia . It was the second loss for the RP pair.
In pool B, Diane Pascua and Heidi Illustre also lost to Thailand 's Yupa and Kulna.*CPT
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