LUKE GEBBIE and Remedy Rule are making their Olympic debut in Tokyo later this month and are bracing for a tough but fruitful challenge.
“I think people need to try to understand just how difficult swimming is, it’s a very difficult thing to do,” the 24-year-old Filipino-New Zealander Gebbie told BusinessMirror on Tuesday from his training camp in Melbourne, Australia. “But nothing is impossible. I will do my best.”
Gebbie and Rule were named to Team Philippines by virtue of the International Olympic Committee universality rule.
“I want to finish all my races, knowing I gave it my all, that I did my best, enjoyed racing at the pinnacle of my sport, and made my country proud,” the Filipino-American Rule, also 24, said from Texas. “I am hoping to have a lasting legacy for Philippines swimming, both on how I compete in the pool and carry myself outside the pool.”
Gebbie is entered in the men’s 50-meter and 100-m freestyle, while Rule will be competing in the women’s the 100-meter and 200-m butterfly in the swimming events that start on July 24 at the Tokyo Aquatics Center.
“My goal is to go there, compete and have a lot of fun, taking the whole experience and the atmosphere, said Gebbie, who holds a Finance and Economics double degree from the University of Melbourne. “I’ll do my best and make my support team and my family proud.”
“I can come up with a national record, it will be amazing,” he added.
Gebbie trained nine times a week at the University of Melbourne pool and is now tapering down.
Rule said she is still in shock about getting the ticket to Tokyo.
“I have had this dream to compete in the Olympics when I first began swimming. I remember watching the Beijing Olympics, cheering for Michael Phelps on TV as he went for his eight golds when I was eleven,” she said.
Rule is not all swimming, she owns a bachelor’s degree in Science Option in Marine and Freshwater Science from the University of Texas.
Gebbie and Rule joined pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, sprinter Kristina Knott, gymnast Carlos Yulo, rower Cris Nievarez, skateboarder Margielyn Arda Didal, shooter Jayson Valdez, taekwondo jin Kurt Ryan Barbosa, weightlifters Hidilyn Diaz and Elreen Ann Ando and boxers Felix Eumir Marcial, Carlo Paalam, Nesthy Petecio and Irish Magno on the team to Tokyo.
No Filipino athlete has won an Olympic medal since Teofilo Yldefonso capture back-to-back bronze medals in the 1928 and 1932 Games.