RAYONG, Thailand – Rowers Joanie Delgaco and Kristine Paraon defied their own expectations and captured the Philippines’ 26th gold medal in the 2025 Southeast Asian Games at the Royal Thai Navy Rowing and Canoeing Training Centre here on Tuesday, December 16.

Third in the preliminary, the Filipina tandem saved its best for the final with a time of 8 minutes and 16.976 seconds to deny local bets Sukkaew Rawiwan and Chaempudsa Parisa from adding to the hosts’ enormous medal haul.

Delgaco and Paraon were nearly five seconds faster than their Thai foes, who finished with 8:21.634.

Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Van Anh and Pham Thi Bich Ngoc rounded out the podium with 8:26.447 for the bronze.

“Iniisip po namin kagabi, nakikita po namin na parang pahirapan pa po ‘yung bronze eh. Pero sabi ko sa sarili ko noong bago ako matulog kagabi, grabe talaga ‘pag si Lord na ‘yung gumalaw talaga. Walang imposible talaga,” said Delgaco.

Their belief in each other proved to be the winning ingredient as the younger Paraon, 23, leaned on 27-year-old Delgaco, the Philippines’ first female rower to qualify for the Olympics.

“Hindi po namin ine-expect ‘tong gold namin po kasi malalakas din po ‘yung mga kalaban namin,” said Paraon. “Pero tiwala po talaga sa isa’t isa at saka alam naman po namin ang mga pinagdaanan po naming training at sobrang salamat ko po kasi si ate Jo po ‘yung naging lead ko. Isa rin po siya sa inspiration ko na isang rower, naging isang rower din po ako.”

Delgaco worried whether she was up to the task after a long hiatus that followed her participation in the 2024 Paris Games.

She enlisted for military training in the Philippine Navy and only returned to action just two months ago, with the Asian Rowing Championships in Vietnam in October being her first competition after the Olympics.

But Delgaco and Paraon were prolific from start to finish of the 2,000-meter race, gaining an advantage of more than a second over the Thais after the first 500m and maintaining the lead the rest of the way.

“‘Yung nangyari po ngayong race, hindi ko na po inisip ‘yung pagkukulang ko sa mga training, dinaan ko na lang po talaga sa tiwala sa sarili, tiwala sa partner, and thankful din po ako dahil ‘yung family ko po nasa finish line. ‘Yun din po ‘yung naging inspirasyon ko sa start pa lang ng race hanggang dulo,” said Delgaco, whose father Bernardo was in attendance to witness her triumph.

Another Olympian delivered a medal as Cris Nievarez bagged bronze in the men’s single sculls.

Nievarez, who represented the country in the Tokyo Games in 2021, registered 8:22.121 to finish behind Indonesia’s Memo (8:10.247) and Thailand’s Wattananusith Premanut (8:15.827).