Tankers brace for Olympics
All four of them are training right now in preparation for the upcoming Olympics
@tribunephl_ian
The Philippine swimming team is leaving no stone unturned in preparing for the Tokyo Olympics next year.
Philippine Swimming, Inc. president Lani Velasco said the team is now in serious training with four swimmers tipped to make an impact after surpassing the Olympic Qualification Time-B (OQT-B) during the country’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games last month.
Gold medalist James Deiparine as well as Olympian Jasmine Alkhaldi, Remedy Rule and Luke Gebbie notched OQT-B in their respective events.
Deiparine swam one minute and 46 seconds to win the gold medal in the biennial meet and put him a heartbeat away from hitting the OQT-A of 59.93 seconds in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke while Rule clocked 2:10.99 to inch closer to the 2:08.43 Olympic cut in the women’s 200-meter freestyle.
Alkhaldi, who saw action in the Summer Games in London and Rio de Janeiro via universality rule, registered 25.48 seconds in women’s 50-meter freestyle, which is just a mere .81 seconds from bagging the OQT-A, while Gebbie tallied 49.94 seconds in men’s 100-meter freestyle to inch closer to the 48.57 seconds Olympic cut.
The Filipino-Australian Gebbie also notched 22.62 seconds in the men’s 50-meter freestyle to inch closer to the OQT A of 22.01 seconds.
The Philippines has yet to send a qualifier to the Olympics since the International Aquatic Federation tweaked its qualifying rules starting the London Summer Games in 2012.
Still, Velasco believes that with right preparation, the Filipino tankers are capable of pulling off a miracle.
“All four of them are training right now in preparation for the upcoming Olympics. They need to get Olympic Qualifying Time-A for them to make it to Tokyo,” Velasco said, adding that national coaches are working double time in analyzing all the advantageous factors that would send Filipino swimmers to the Olympics.
“I think the coaches would have to create a program based on events that they can join. There are lots of variables to be considered — strokes, events and venues. So we cannot give a specific qualifying event yet.”
“There will be qualifying competitions in the United States and Europe, but I still do not know what tournament we are going to enter. It will be based on the program that the coaches are creating.”
Velasco beamed optimism over their chances as the athletes are already in the middle of their training and preparation abroad.
“I believe that all four of them are really aiming to get the qualifying time to be able to represent the country in Tokyo,” she said.
“Remedy is in Texas right now while Luke Gebbie just went back to Australia after his training camp in the United States. James Deiparine is in Seattle but he will go back to Los Angeles to train with his coach there.”
“Jasmine trains under the supervision of his coach, Archie Lim. I believe she will train abroad just like her preparation in SEA Games last year.”
Velasco said it’s still a long way to go.
“We’re still in January and the period to get qualifying time is until June. A lot of things can happen.”