Alkhaldi leads SEAG-bound Pinoy swimmers

Olympian Jasmine Alkhaldi will lead the Filipino swimmers taking part in next month’s Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The Philippine Swimming Inc. (PSI) named those in the official lineup:

Xiandi Chua, Chloe Kennedy Anne Isleta, Desiree Aubrey Mangaoang, Kirsten Chloe Daos, Thanya Angelyn Dela Cruz, Jessica Joy Geriane and Miranda Cristina Renner for the women; Luke Michael Gebbie, Jean-Pierre Sameh Khouzam, Jonathan Sebastian Cook, Adrian Philipp Eichler, Jerard Dominic Jacinto, Donovan Payne Lahmann and Jaden Christian Olson for the men; and Ariana Hannah Drake for women’s diving.

Alkhaldi, who competed in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympic Games, captured two silver medals (4x100m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay) and six bronze medals (50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 100m backstroke and 4x200m freestyle relay) in the 2019 SEAG held in the Philippinjes.

Other 2019 SEAG medalists in the Vietnam-bound squad are Isleta (silver, 100m backstroke), Isleta and Mangaoang (silver, 4×100 medley relay), Chua (silver, 4x100m freestyle relay), Gebbie (bronze, 50m freestyle and silver, 4x100m freestyle relay) and Khouzam (silver, 4x100m freestyle relay).

The Philippines ranked fifth among six countries in the swimming medal tally with one gold, six silvers and nine bronzes. Its lone gold came from James Deiparine, who set a new meet and national record in the men’s 100m breaststroke.

Deiparine has retired, along with some of the national team members.

“We faced a couple of retirements from the old squad. While we may have a few new faces in the coming SEA Games, we want to be modest and realistic with our expectations,” PSI president Lailani Velasco said.

“In terms of individual performances, we have some of the athletes establish personal bests in the last year. It’s not impossible that we actually give a comparable team performance in Vietnam. If we can win one or two gold medals this coming May, we would already be very delighted.”

Velasco named Singapore and Vietnam as the biggest challenge to the Philippine campaign. In 2019, Singapore collected 23 golds, 10 silvers and 14 bronzes while Vietnam had 10 golds, six silvers and nine bronzes.

“Vietnam, as the host, is the obvious threat. They have always been a strong team especially at the age-group level. Maybe, home court advantage will further strengthen them. But Singapore will always be the team to beat in swimming,” she said.