Luka Gabrilo, an outstanding swimming coach from Switzerland, is taking his act to the Philippines to help the Philippine Swimming Inc. develop its national coaches and handle Fil-Canadian Kyla Sanchez in her quest to qualify to the Paris Olympics.
PSI president Lani Velasco said Gabrilo will be around when the Philippines prepares its swimmers for international meets next year.
“Philippine Swimming Inc. is excited for what the future holds with Gabrilo guiding our coaches and mentoring our athletes,” said Velasco in a statement.
Gabrilo used to be the national team coach of the Israeli Swimming Association and the Swiss national swim team.
He has been assigned to take care of Sanchez, a member of the Canadian national team until 2022. Sanchez previously represented Canada at the Olympic and World championship level.
Sanchez finished with a silver medal with the Canadian 4×100 meter freestyle team and a bronze with the 4×100 medley relay squad in the Tokyo Olympics.
The 21-year-old Sanchez will now represent the Philippines in future international competitions.
Gabrilo was a consultant for the Philippine team during the 2022 Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam, before he made a decision to accept more responsibilities.
“The young mentor developed an interest in helping the Philippines emerge as a global force in swimming in the years to come,” said Velasco.
This will be Gabrilo’s first time to visit the Philippines as a high-performance consultant.