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Singapore swimmer Quah Ting Wen finished her run at the 32nd SEA Games by being named best athlete of the Games.
On May. 17, 2023, Quah was presented with the top athlete award by the deputy prime minister of Cambodia, Tea Banh, during the SEA Games closing ceremony.
Quah was one of two to receive the award.
The other is Cambodian vovinam representative Pal Choraksmey.
Vovinam is a Vietnamese Martial Art that is practised with and without weapons.
Over the course of the games, Quah snagged six gold medals and two silver medals.
Quah's journey in the 2023 SEA Games
The 30-year-old defended her title in the women's swimming 100m freestyle, clinching gold and clocking 55:83 in the finals.
That made it her fifth consecutive gold at the women's 100m freestyle at the SEA Games.
In the 100m butterfly event, Quah finished second place with a time of 59:51, trailing behind sister Jing Wen who took gold.
Quah finished second in the 50m butterfly at 26:66, earning her second silver at the Games.
In the women's 4x100m freestyle relay, Quah was one of the four to clinch the gold medal, which sealed Singapore's 1,000th SEA Games gold medal.
Quah also snagged another gold medal at the women's 4x100m medley relay, setting a new meet record at 4:06.
In the women's 4x200m freestyle relay, Quah and her team emerged first in the race.
Quah set a new meet record to claim her first gold in the 50m freestyle event with a time of 25:04. It also became her 30th gold medal in the SEA Games.
In the mixed 4x100m medley, Quah and her siblings Zheng Wen and Jing Wen were teamed up with Nicholas Mahabir and came out on top with a time of 3:51, setting a new national record.
"Extremely honoured and proud"
Speaking to CNA, Quah shared that she was "extremely honoured and proud to receive this award".
"I am thankful for the opportunity to have done well for Singapore and my sport," she said.
"My brother received the award in 2019 and my sister was the most bemedalled athlete at the Hanoi SEA Games last year, so it feels like a nice way to close the circle."
Speaking to Mothership, Quah shared that she was proud of how she managed herself during the Games and honoured to have received the best athlete award.
"I think I stayed very present and focused throughout the competition, and knew what I had to do to get the job done. I pushed through challenges in a way that has helped me grow as a person and a swimmer, and I am so pleased that I could do it alongside my siblings and have my family and loved ones be in the stands watching and supporting [me].
I am really honoured to have received the Best Performer award, and hope that I have done my fellow Singaporeans and teammates proud! It was a really nice feeling to stand in front of the Cambodian crowd [on May. 17] to commemorate the end of a really special edition of the games and to allow [me] to take some time to celebrate some of my personal milestones. Writing this on the plane back to Singapore, and I must say I'm really excited to be back on home soil."
Top photos via Singapore Swimming Association's Facebook/Chin An/SNOC & Mediacorp/YouTube