Fil-Australian Luke Gebbie is set to join more Olympic qualifying meets in Australia following outstanding performances in the State of Victoria.
Gebbie’s bid to make it to the Tokyo Olympics was revived after he moved within range of two Olympic standard times during the recent Victorian Open Swimming Championships, held Feb. 20 and 21.
The 24-year-old Gebbie, who holds four Philippine records, did this when he took home a gold, two silvers, and a bronze medal against the best in the Australian swimming scene.
Gebbie logged clockings that are close to the qualifying B times in the Tokyo Olympics when he claimed the silver in the men’s 50-meter freestyle event and in snatching a bronze medal in the 100-meter freestyle.
He moved close to the OST qualifying time of 22.67 seconds when he finished the 50-meter freestyle in 23.39 seconds, behind winner Andrew Lauterstein’s 22.77 seconds.
Benno Negri rulled the 100-meter freestyle in 50.52, followed in second by Gebbie’s clubmate Jack Gerrard (50.95).
Gebbie landed third place for the bronze, logging a time of 51.27 seconds, which is close to the OST-B time of 50.03 seconds.
“My one (meet) last week was (the) Victorian state championships and I actually surprised myself, even with little rest,” said Gebbie in his talks with Philippine Swimming Inc. president Lailani Velasco.
Velasco added that Gebbie is scheduled for more meets, including the 2021 Australian Nationals this April.
Gebbie’s gold-medal finish came when he outpaced Hamish McDougall in 55.83 seconds in the 100-m butterfly. McDougall settled for second in 56.54 seconds.
It was the first time for Gebbie to try the butterfly sprints.
“I don’t ever train in butterfly, but I am getting close to the Philippine National record,” added Gebbie.
His second silver came when Gebbie checked in at 25.27 seconds in the 50-m butterfly, behind teammate Gerrard’s 25.24 seconds.
Meanwhile, two members of the national swimming team, James Deiparine and Remedy Rule, will go for Olympic qualifying slots on Thursday.
Deiparine and Rule will take part in the four-day TYR Pro Swim Series at the North East ISD Blossom Athletic Complex in San Antonio, Texas.
