ONE member of the Philippines’ swimming team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has a strong Australian connection, albeit from a Melbourne swim club where he is based and has trained.
Luke Gebbie, 24, is the Philippines’ male swimming representative – one of four – at the Olympics after punching his ticket to Japan via universality places.
Gebbie, who swims in the 50m and 100m events, trains at the Melbourne Vicentre Swimming Club at Albert Park, Victoria.
He had boosted his preparations for a place at the Tokyo Olympics after bagging one gold, two silvers and one bronze medal at the Victoria Open LC Swimming Championships in Australia.
Gebbie earned 828 FINA (International swimming federation) points, which proved to be the highest number among male swimmers in the Philippines, as of the June 20 cut-off.
At the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, he set the national record with a time of 49.94sec in the men’s 100m freestyle while making the Olympic Standard Time of the event, which stands at 50.03sec.
At the 30th Southeast Asian Games in 2019, Gebbie won silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay and bronze in the 50m freestyle event.
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