By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
The Philippine swimming team continued to struggle as it failed to advance in three more events in the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar on Friday, Feb. 16.
Jarod Hatch was the first to fall after placing 32nd out of 66 swimmers in the men’s 100-meter butterfly with a time of 53.75 seconds, two ticks behind top qualifiers Simon Bucher of Austria (51.42sec), Katsuhiro Matsumoto of Japan (51.60sec) and Nyls Korstanje of the Netherlands (51.70sec).
His performance was also a second slower than his own national record of 52.87sec he set at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia last year.
Xiandi Chua was also eliminated early after finishing a disappointing 21st place in the women’s 200m backstroke that saw her clock 2 minutes and 15.01sec – almost two seconds slower than her own PH mark of 2:13.20 set at the Cambodia SEAG last year.
Had she matched or eclipsed her own personal best, Chua could have advanced to the semifinals as last qualifier Hannah Pearse of South Africa only timed 2:13.26.
Olympian Jasmine Alkhaldi was also a disappointing sight after ending 30th overall in the women’s 50m fly.
Her timed of 27.32sec was not even enough to beat her bronze-medal feat of 27.02sec at the Cambodia SEAG last year.
Six more events are lined up for Team PH including four being held at press time: in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay, the women’s 50m breaststroke (Thanya Dela Cruz), men’s 50m back (Jerard Jacinto) and women’s 50m free (Alkaldi).
The remaining two events — the women’s 4x100m medley relay and the women’s 400m medley (Chua) — are scheduled on Sunday, Feb. 18.
