According to a recent Facebook post from Philippine Swimming Inc., Luke Gebbie and Remedy Rule have been invited to race at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The official invitation letter from FINA lists 2 events for both Gebbie (50/100 free) and Rule (200 free/fly), however, the graphic published by Philippine Swimming Inc. only lists the 200 fly for Rule and the 100 free for Gebbie. While it’s not clear exactly what they will swim in Tokyo, both Gebbie and Rule were nominated to swim at the Games based on the universality rule which allows 1 swimmer per gender per nation to swim at the Games if they have achieved a FINA B standard.
Rule’s 200 butterfly PB of 2:09.58 comes from her swim at the 2020 Pro Swim Series in Des Moines last March. That time for Rule is a little bit over the 2:08.43 FINA A qualifying cut but is under the 2:12.28 FINA B. Rule’s fastest swim this season is also under that FINA B cut, sitting at a 2:10.90 from the 2021 Pro Swim Series in Mission Viejo. Rule’s 2nd and 3rd quickest times in the 200 fly come from her performances at the 2017 World Championships Trials where she hit a 2:10.38 in the prelims and a 2:10.48 during finals. Rule raced the 200 butterfly for the Philippines at the 2019 World Swimming Championships and finished in 19th place with a 2:11.38.
Rule has less international experience in the 200 freestyle and holds a PB in the event of 2:00.35 which she swam at the Des Moines stop of the 2020 Pro Swim Series. As is the case with the 200 fly, that time for Rule sits in between the FINA A and FINA B standards in the event of 1:57.28 and 2:00.80, respectively.
Rule swam collegiately for the University of Texas from 2015-2019 and is a 13-time Big 12 champion. In her senior year at the 2019 Big 12 Championships Rule collected gold in both the 100 and 200 butterflies and took bronze in the 500 free.
In addition to the 2019 World Championships, Rule represented the Philippines at the 2019 Southeast Asain Games. Rule collected a bronze medal in the women’s 200 freestyle with a 2:01.64 and took silver in the 200 fly with a 2:10.99. At those Games, fellow 2021 Olympian Luke Gebbie also collected hardware for the Philippines by delivering a 22.62 50 freestyle record for bronze. That swim for Gebbie was also a Filipino swimming record in the event.
Gebbie recently lowered that record to a 22.57 at the 2021 Australian Olympic Trials which got him under the 22.67 FINA B cut. The FINA A cut in that event sits at a 22.01. Gebbie also holds the Filipino record in the 100 freestyle, having hit a 49.94 at the 2019 World Championships. That 100 freestyle for Gebbie was good enough for a 42nd place finish overall in the event and he also contested the 50 freestyle, placing 58th with a 23.26.
The last time that the Philippines sent more than 2 swimmers to the Olympics was in 2008 when they sent a 5-swimmer contingent to the Beijing Games. The top finish there came from Miguel Molina who placed 27th in the men’s 200 IM with a 2:01.61. In 2012, Jessie Lacuna raced to 36th in the men’s 200 freestyle (1:52.91) and Jasmine Alkhaldi was 34th in the 100 freestyle in a 57.13. At the most recent Games in 2016, that same duo raced for the Philippines in Rio. Alkhaldi hit a 56.30 for 33rd in the women’s 100 freestyle while Lacuna switched from the 200 to the 400 free and wound up in 46th with a 4:01.70.
bummer jimmy deiparine didnt get selected.
Good luck Remedy. We will be cheering for you.
I thought universality was 1 swimmer and 1 event from each gender no matter the time? Doesn’t a B cut indicate you’ll be considered once all the entries are in, like NCAAs?
Yeah I think having a B cut is different and that is why they have two swimmers entered
Congratulations to these two Olympians!!!
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Natalie Coughlin do this at some point.
Nice imagination but Coughlin is all about USA
Her mother is Pilipina.