By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
As expected, Fil-foreign swimmers Luke Gebbie and Remedy Rule secured berths to the Tokyo Olympics – thanks to the Universality quota.
The Universality quota allows one male and one female athlete from a country to participate in the Olympics so long as no other competitor from the same gender qualifies for the Games.
Philippine Swimming Inc. (PSI) President Lani Velasco announced this Friday after the two emerged as the top-ranked male and female tankers of the national team based from their International Swimming Federation (FINA) points this year.
Gebbie has 828 FINA points in the men’s 100-meter freestyle while Rule has 830 FINA points in the women’s 200m butterfly.
The Fil-Kiwi Gebbie, who won silver and bronze medals in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, will compete in the 50m and 100m free while Rule, a Fil-Am who pocketed three silver and two bronzes in the 2019 SEAG, will battle in the 200m fly and 200m free events.
Velasco congratulated Gebbie and Rule’s inclusion to the team while also commending other Filipino swimmers who tried to make it to the PH team either through earning FINA points or making the Olympic standard in various events.
“We thank them for their continuing dedication and sacrifice to serve our country well and we wish them all the best at the coming Olympic Games!” Velasco wrote on her Facebook account.
With the development, the PH team now has 19 athletes going to the Games that include pole vaulter EJ Obiena, sprinter Kristina Knott, gymnast Carlos Yulo, rower Cris Nievarez, taekwondo jin Kurt Barbosa, skateboarder Margielyn Didal, weightlifters Hidilyn Diaz and Elreen Ando, judoka Kiyomi Watanabe, shooter Jayson Valdez, golfers Juvic Pagunsan, Yuka Saso and Bianca Pagdanganan, and boxers Eumir Marcial, Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam and Irish Magno.
