Brandon, Aidan, and Ethan Wong took Selangor to a water polo final in front of a home crowd — the first and last SUKMA the three brothers will ever share. They came away with silver, and something their family says matters more than gold.
Selangor 6 — 9 Sarawak · Water Polo, Men's Final · SUKMA XXII, Selangor 2026
Water polo returned to SUKMA this year after a 13-year absence. For the Wong family of Selangor, that alone would have been news enough. Instead, it produced something rarer: three brothers — Brandon, Aidan, and Ethan — named to the same Selangor squad, for a tournament that will never happen for them again in this configuration.
"The 3 of us were especially delighted and excited at the same time as this edition was our first SUKMA games," Brandon said. "Water Polo has not been in SUKMA for the past 13 years and we were looking forward to what was to come."
For Ethan, the youngest of the three, the scale of it only sank in once the squad list was confirmed. "It was very surprising to say the least because I'm sure there's almost no other SUKMA team that has 3 brothers all playing for the same sport in the same team," he said. "Not only would we be carrying the pride of our state but also our family as well."
Aidan, the middle brother, called it "a very proud and memorable moment" — one built on years, not months. "I've grown up training alongside them, so seeing all three of our names on the squad list was a culmination of our years of hard work into the sport."
Age gaps in a family usually mean different roles. In the Wong household, all three brothers occupy the same one — swimmer, teammate, competitor — and each has had to work out what that means for the other two.
For Brandon, the eldest, the answer is that the water erases hierarchy entirely. "In the pool, we are all equals," he said. "The way I would communicate with my brother and everyone else would be the same. There is no special treatment for anyone."
Aidan experiences that same flatness differently — as both privilege and duty. "It is a very special experience," he said. "I have someone older and more experienced to look up to and learn from, while at the same time I feel a responsibility to set a good example for my younger brother."
And for Ethan, training alongside two older brothers who are — by his own account — simply better than him has become its own kind of fuel. "Since I'm the younger one from Aidan and Brandon, they're much better than me in terms of water polo and it's fun to push myself to get to their levels and where they're at," he said. "Although this is Brandon's last SUKMA, I might still play with Aidan in future competitions and I will continue to strive to be better."
"Because we are brothers, there's always more emotion with one another as we can get more frustrated with one another easily. There is a different level of trust that we have as we grew up together." — Ethan Wong
That trust showed up long before the final whistle of any match — in the unglamorous 5am starts that a home SUKMA campaign demanded. "In the lead-up to SUKMA, we've had many early morning swimming sessions," Ethan said. "Waking early for swimming has been a real struggle because I'm not much of a morning person, but my brothers are always there to wake me up whenever I am late to make sure I am always on time to the sessions."
Aidan remembers the same mornings, but with a routine attached to them. "In the mornings we would wake each other up and make sure all 3 of us go for training. After training, we would always go for breakfast together," he said. "It became a small routine that we looked forward to after a difficult session, and gave us time to talk and relax before starting the rest of our day."
Brandon's build-up looked different by necessity — he has been studying in Sydney since February, water polo there in its off-season. "For me, water polo in Sydney was in the off-season, I had to maintain my fitness by going for my own swimming sessions to be fit for SUKMA," he said. "As I have been studying abroad since February, I have not had many memories with the team up to this moment, but I believe the memories we have made throughout this competition will stick with me for years to come."
As captain, Brandon carried the final differently than his brothers did — closer to the tactics, and closer to the moment it slipped away. "It was a heated and hostile atmosphere, a real final atmosphere," he said. "One that the majority of my teammates have never experienced before. In tight games like this, it always comes down to the finest margins and whichever team could hold their nerves."
Scoreboard: 3–2 Selangor lead at Q2 · Sarawak won Q3 4–1 · Final score 6–9
Selangor were ahead at the midpoint. Then came the third quarter, and with it, the moment Brandon points to as the game's turning point. "The turning point came when one of our players received a red card in the 3rd quarter, which flipped the dynamics of the game," he said. "It was in the 3rd quarter, where fatigue started to settle in, and small mistakes were made. We were up 3-2 after the second quarter but down 6-4 at the end of the third. We lost 4-1 that quarter."
Asked what he'd change if Selangor played the final again, Brandon's answer is telling — not the game plan, but the execution of it. "I would not make any changes to our defensive and attacking tactics," he said. "At times we managed to suffocate their attack and hold on to our lead. The intensity of our defense dropped from the third quarter onwards and that was the reason we started conceding more."
Sarawak, in his account, didn't ambush Selangor with anything unfamiliar — they simply executed better on the day. "We knew we were facing a team that is not only individually skilled, but coherent as a unit in the defense and in the attack," Brandon said. "As a team, we have practiced multiple defenses and decided to play an m-zone. We know them very well and their capabilities so there was nothing that surprised us during the game."
On the officiating, he was equally measured. "The officials are humans, and they will make mistakes throughout the game, some going for us and some going against us," he said. "This time, some calls did influence certain moments both ways in the game but ultimately in the end, we lost because of the mistakes we made and we can only look and reflect on them."
"We have trained hard to get to where we are. Despite the heartbreaking loss, it is important for us as a team to celebrate our second place finishing. We have put our all, and we have lost to the better team." — Brandon Wong
For Aidan and Ethan — both of whom, unlike Brandon, will have future SUKMA cycles ahead of them — the loss registered less as an ending and more as material.
"This loss against Sarawak meant a lot because we came so close to achieving our goal especially after months of training," Ethan said. "However, this loss showed that we still have a lot to improve on and it's clear what we need to focus on. Instead of letting this loss demotivate us we'll use it as motivation in further competitions, remembering how we came up short and using it to push ourselves in training."
Aidan's read was much the same. "Losing to Sarawak was definitely disappointing, especially after all the preparation that we had put in, but we learn from every game we play," he said. "This game showed us that small mistakes and moments of lost concentration can make a big difference at this level. Rather than let the loss discourage us, I think it gives me something to build on for the next SUKMA."
For Brandon, there is no next SUKMA to build toward. "It is disappointing to not win gold in front of our home crowd, especially knowing I would not have the opportunity at a second SUKMA," he said. "However, we all should still be proud. We have beaten strong teams to get to the final, and it was no easy route. We had tough games against Pulau Pinang, Wilayah Persekutuan and Negeri Sembilan before this final."
He was careful, too, about what the result should and shouldn't overshadow. "We as a team should not let this loss tarnish the silver medal we have accomplished at this SUKMA games," he said. "I am also grateful that we are able to show our supporters the beautiful game of water polo; how exciting, how interesting and how tough a sport it is. I believe our Selangor team have made water polo a more known sport to the people here."
Asked what Selangor needs to close the gap on Sarawak next time, Brandon didn't point to talent. "We as a team are all individually skilled and we have good team chemistry as well," he said. "What we need to work on would be a bit more on our fitness and our composure. Being mentally strong is something that can't be taught, but can only be trained by experiencing and playing in big games such as our final."
Ask any parent what it's like to watch three sons compete for the same state team on the same night, and you get an answer built from years, not one tournament. For the Wongs, it started long before anyone thought to call it a story. "We have spent so many years watching them train, compete, win, lose and grow up together through the sport," they said. "To see Brandon, Aidan and Ethan all wearing the Selangor colours at the same SUKMA is something we are extremely proud of — and honestly, something that never crossed our minds when they first started playing water polo."
What makes this SUKMA irreplaceable isn't just that it happened — it's that it can't happen again. "This is the first and only time the three of them will experience a SUKMA together, as Brandon will be over the age limit by the next SUKMA," they said. There's a fourth brother, too, young enough that the maths will never quite work out for all four. "Ian, our youngest, is only 13 and already in the Selangor U16 squad, so hopefully one day he will have his own opportunity to represent Selangor at SUKMA and continue the journey of his three older brothers. Because of the age difference, there will unfortunately never be a SUKMA where all four brothers can compete together."
For the family, the medal was never really the point. "All four boys grew up together, went to the same school, trained in the same pool and shared the same love for water polo," they said. "Brandon, Aidan and Ethan achieved a silver medal this SUKMA, but seeing three of our sons representing Selangor together is a memory we will cherish for the rest of our lives."
"They may have lost the final but they won the hearts of the supporters." — The Wong Family
They had one more thing to say — not about their sons, but about the crowd that showed up for them. "We also want to thank the Selangor supporters for the incredible atmosphere throughout the competition," they said. "Hearing the crowd chanting Brandon, Aidan and Ethan's names was truly magical and a moment we will never forget."