Luke Gebbie hopes Olympic stint will open doors for young Filipino swimmers

Olympic-bound athlete Luke Gebbie hopes that his upcoming stint in the  Tokyo Summer Games will inspire young swimmers to represent the country.

In Chino Trinidad's report on "24 Oras," Wednesday, Gebbie said this is his way to help grow the sport in the Philippines.

"If I could do my part in helping the young swimmers get there so that one day it is not an uncommon thing to see a Filipino swimmer at the Olympics, if I could just open that door a little bit... [I know] it's more than just me," the swimmer said.

Gebbie, who was the first Filipino to beat the 50-second mark in 100-meter freestyle, also shared that his love for swimming was not forced on him by his parents.

"I don't think my parents ever pushed me," he said. "You see that in a lot of parents and I think that leads to a lot of kids actually burning out. Just too much pressure, too much stress, and they [eventually] pull out," he said.

Luckily for Gebbie, his parents, particularly his mom Cora, were supportive in his swimming journey.

He recalled a particular moment when he saw how his mother cheered him during the 2019 FINA World Championships in South Korea.

"When I walked out behind the blocks, I remembered turning, I could see my mom, [with] tears in her eyes, holding the only Filipino flag in the whole stand of thousands," Gebbie said.

Gebbie won a silver and a bronze medal in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

He, along with fellow swimmer Remedy Rule, are two of the 19 athletes which will represent the Philippines in Tokyo 2020. The two swimmers booked their slot via universality.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/MGP, GMA News