Mikee Mojdeh captures 2 golds in Thailand
SWIM League Philippines (SLP) ace tanker Mikhael Jasper “Mikee” Mojdeh bagged his first-ever gold medal in an international tournament after ruling the boys’ 8-year 100-meter (m) backstroke event in the 2024 Asian Open School Invitational Aquatics Championships.
Mojdeh proved too much against his foreign counterparts following his one-minute, 24.34-second showing at the Assumption University Aquatic Center inside the Suvarnabhumi Campus in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary College-Parañaque standout outclassed Anand Chinziong of Mongolia, who settled for silver with a time of 1:36.08, and Nittipong Kongkyot of host Thailand, who took the gold in 1:37.06.
Moments later, the future water beast copped another gold this time in the 50-m backstroke, checking in at 37.70 seconds — way better than silver medalist Orgilbayar Soninbayar of Mongolia (42.85).
“It is my first two gold medals in international tournament, and I am happy to win it in a strong field like this, competing against some of the region’s best young swimmers. But I’m not yet done, I want to win more for our country,” said Mojdeh.
So far, Mojdeh has five medals.
Besides the two golds, Mikhael Jasper earned a silver in the 50-m freestyle, a bronze in the 50-m breaststroke and was part of the SLP team that won a bronze in the 4x50-m medley relay.
Also sharing the spotlight was Behrouz Mohammad Mojdeh, who delivered a silver-medal finish in the boys’ 12-13-year 200-m butterfly (2:27.43).
Mikhael Jasper and Behrouz Mohammad are the younger brothers of World Junior Championships semifinalist and Philippine national junior record holder Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh.
Micaela Jasmine is currently in Beijing, China, competing in the Asia Pacific Activities Conference Swimming Championships.
“Competing in international competition is part of the program. We need to expose them in this kind of tournament to gauge their skills. It’s a good learning experience for our young swimmers,” said Joan Mojdeh, Behrouz
Elite Swimming Team Philippines team manager.