Quah Ting Wen now has 63 SEA Games medals, breaking Joscelin Yeo's previous record of 62. Photo: SportSG/ Andy Chua
It was a goal she was eyeing coming into this SEA Games, and Quah Ting Wen achieved it in style on Dec 13. She won the women’s 100m butterfly final to become Singapore’s most decorated athlete at the biennial event.
She now has 63 medals, surpassing other swimming great Joscelin Yeo’s previous record of 62.
Quah said: “I’m very happy I reached number 63 and with a gold, so hopefully I can ride this momentum. I have two more 50m races and one more relay with the girls on the last day, but I’ll be here every night cheering everyone on.
“We can see from this meet that winning isn’t that easy. Maybe from the past few editions, it was made to look like pretty effortless as we came in first a lot. This edition is kind of a show of how the playing field here is starting to level and it’s getting more competitive.
“In a way it makes it more exciting and it also makes it very fulfilling when what you’ve been practising for the past year comes together.”
But achieving the historic milestone came with mixed feelings for her as she had come from behind to beat younger sister Jing Wen to gold by just 0.01sec. Jing Wen had touched the wall first, but Ting Wen was faster after the turn and eventually won in 59.76sec.
Dedicating the race to her sister, Ting Wen said: “This is our crossover event and it’s one of the few we get to swim together and it’s a privilege for me to be able to swim beside her today. She’s the reason why I’m able to race fast and I’m thankful I reached this milestone next to her.
“Going into this race, I was quite relaxed actually. But it’s also a confusing mix for me. For the competitor in me, I like to win. But with this race, I’ve always been very happy as long as we come in first and second. If my sister beats me, I still feel that sense of satisfaction.
“I went into the race today with the mindset that I would give my sister a run for her money and push one another and see how we do. There’s a part of me as an older sister, I kind of come out of myself a little bit. It’s very hard for me to feel 100 per cent happy because I know my sister isn’t, so it takes time to process.”
Jing Wen, 25, was also experiencing a host of emotions and admitted she was constantly bouncing between being composed and breaking down.
Paying tribute to her older sister, she said: “My sister has always been one of the most selfless people I’ve ever known, especially in the swimming world, she’s the most selfless athlete I know.
“As an athlete, it sucks to lose. It feels terrible to feel bad for losing because I know I’m happy because it’s my sister winning and I wouldn’t want anyone else to win. But as an athlete, it always just hurt to lose, so it’s a really crazy mixed bag of feelings.”
The Quahs had more to celebrate at the Sports Authority of Thailand when brother Zheng Wen retained his 100m butterfly title in 52.25sec for his first individual gold in Bangkok.
He said: “I’m very happy to have been able to get the job done tonight. Obviously my performance was not up to my standard (in the first half of the meet), but I’m glad I was able to push through that and put everything behind me.
“Watching my sisters race right before me always gets me hyped up and I’m very happy for the both of them. It’s a very special thing that we get to travel and race together.
It’s been some time since we’ve been able to really do that so for all of us to be able to come together to race in Thailand means a lot to me. I’m really treasuring these moments with them.”
Team Singapore then won a third gold of the night through Letitia Sim who won her third straight 100m breaststroke gold in a Meet record time of 1min 6.79sec. This is also her third gold in Bangkok.
Highlighting her affinity with the number three – she was born on March 3, 2003 – Sim was delighted with her three-peat.
She also paid tribute to the Team Nila volunteers in the crowd who were constantly cheering for all the Singapore swimmers.
She said: “That was a really good swim from me and I’m really proud of that time. I didn’t expect to go as fast as I did but I’m really glad I was able to pull that off.
“This meet has gone a lot better than I expected which is really good. I’ve been feeling a lot better, comparing my first SEA Games (in Hanoi) and now. I’m just really proud of the progress and i hope to continue to grow in the sport.
“Having Team Nila here is amazing. I heard them mostly before the race, they’re always cheering, which is so amazing. The fact that they’re here just supporting us is incredible. When they told me they’re just volunteers who love cheering for Singapore sports, I thought that was so cute and I really enjoy having them here.“
The 33rd SEA Games are held in Thailand from 9 to 20 December 2025. For the latest Team Singapore coverage and news, follow Team Singapore on their social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) or visit the official Team Singapore website.