By Kristel Satumbaga
Despite the altered preparation, the Philippine Swimming Inc. is upbeat of its athletes’ chances to qualify to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that was rescheduled next year due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
PSI President Lani Velasco said five of the 11 national swimmers who are based abroad are now back training after restrictions were eased in their respective areas.
Only Luke Gebbie has been training the whole time in Australian as he lives near a house with a swimming pool.
Remedy Rule started trainining only last May 18 while James Deiparine will resume pool training on June 1 at the University of Southern California.
The three athletes, along with
, have the best chances of earning Olympic slots after making the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT) B in their events at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games held in Manila.
But they have to improve their times in their pet events in the OQT A if they are to advance to next year’s quadrennial event.
Gebbie clocked 49.94 seconds in men’s 100-meter freestyle and 22.62sec in 50 free, more than a second slower than the 48.57sec and 22.01sec OQT-A times.
Rule’s 2:10.99 in women’s 200 free also closes in on the 2:08.43 Olympic cut, as well as her 100m record of 55.80sec (54.38sec, OQT-A).
Deiparine needs to meet the 59.93sec standard in men’s 100m breaststroke after timing 1:01.46, while Alkhaldi, who compete in the previous two Olympics via the universality rule, is 0.81 seconds off the OQT-A time in women’s 50m free with her time of 25.48sec.
“I’m optimistic of our athletes despite the situation we are now. There will be plenty of time to qualify,” said Velasco, adding that more qualifiers are rescheduled once quarantine eases in other countries.
Swimmers have until one month before the Games to make the OQT-A grade.
Countries are also given one slot per gender via universality rule if no one qualifies.
Preventive measures are tricky for the sport since local clubs and venues are still closed at the moment including the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and Philsports Complex, which are currently serving as temporary medical facilities.
