There's no limit for young Alkhaldi in Olympic quest

LONDON – Swimmer Jasmine Alkhaldi said she will continue to train and compete for her country in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and hopes she can swim for her country for 10 more years. What? She’ll be 38 years old by then!

“Ay, kuya, I’m only 19 years old,” said the University of Hawaii freshman, laughing, referring to the Olympic athletes’ biography, which showed she was born on June 20, 1983.

“The International Olympic Committee (actually, the London organizing committee) committed a mistake. Everybody was tweeting me saying ‘you don’t look that old’. Then I told my coach ‘ayusin mo yan’ but the mistake remained uncorrected,” she said.

“I am one of the youngest in my event (100m freestyle),” said Jas, who is fresh from high school and currently enrolled as a swimming scholar at the University of Hawaii. “I still have four years so I still have time for Rio when I graduate. Hindi pa naman ako 29, ha!”

Like 18-year-old compatriot Jessie Lacuna, Alkhaldi did not reach the semifinals of her event, but her time of 57.13 seconds in the heats improved her time of 58.02 in the World Championships in Shanghai in 2011.

Jas, a high school swimming scholar at the TRACE School in Laguna, hopes to get the preparation she needs for Rio under a Hawaiian coach who has put her on the varsity team.

“Walang imposible,” said the daughter of a businesswoman, who had accompanied her to the swimming pool since she was three years old. “I don’t give myself personal goals, all I’ll be doing is to keep improving my time again and again. Wala akong limit.”

She said she expects to gain improvement in Hawaii because the training regimen there is rigorous and includes land training.

Regular training in school covers a three-hour workout each in the morning and afternoon with classes in between.

She said one good thing about her school is it also pays particular attention to the academic training of its athletes.

“They are keen on academics and training. We are given free tutorials if we have difficulty coping with our class,” she says.

“My training will be more on endurance. My new coach will actually not change my strokes. Coach Pinky (Brozas) had talked to my new Hawaiian coach and told him there will be no need to change my strokes. Kulang lang ako sa power. The training will be more on endurance,” said Jas.

Jas’ personal goal is to be the next swimming sensation after Akiko Thomson, the last of the country’s top women swimmers who won the SEA Games gold in 1989.

“Yes, I will be Akiko Thomson,” she says, giggling. “I am Akiko Thomson!”