OLYMPIAN Jasmine Alkhaldi became the lone Filipino to qualify for the coming FINA World Swimming Championships in Hangzhou, China.
The beauteous 25-year-old swimmer made it to the Dec. 11-16 meet after clocking 55.54 in the 100-m freestyle of the FINA Swimming World Cup 2018 in Singapore. Alkhaldi surpassed the qualifying time of 55.66.
The Singapore leg was the final stop of the swimming competition series that also went to Kazan in Russia, Doha, Qatar, Eindhoven in the Netherlands, Budapest, Hungary, Beijing, China, and Tokyo, Japan.
Alkhaldi coach Archimedes Lim said the Filipina narrowly missed her other events in the 50-m freestyle, 200-m freestyle, 50-m butterfly, and 100-m butterfly, but was able to come through in her last event in the 100-m freestyle, of which she currently owns the Philippine record of 56.10.
World record holders Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden and Olympic champion Joseph Schooling of Singapore were among those who also saw action in the meet.
Born to a Cebuana mother and a Saudi Arabian father, Alkhaldi previously represented the country in the 2012 (London) and 2016 (Rio de Janeiro) Olympics, respectively.
The University of Hawaii product also competed for Team Philippines in the last Asian Games in Indonesia, making the finals of both the 100-m and 200-m freestyle.
Alkhaldi, who was recently tapped to become sports ambassador of Ever Bilena, is using the World Swimming stint as part of her preparation when the country hosts the Southeast Asian Games next year.
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