Alkhaldi banking on crowd support

MANILA, Philippines — There are no promises but tanker Jasmine Alkhaldi vows to put in a best effort in a bid to improve on her previous SEA Games performances.

Winner of four bronze medals in the Kuala Lumpur meet two years ago, the Olympic veteran sets her sights on copping a medal of different color – a silver or a gold.

“I never project a medal because swimming is unpredictable. You never know the result but all I want is to improve on my last SEAG campaign. I’m getting tired of a bronze finish so I want to change the color or maybe increase the number,” said Alkhaldi during the presentation of SEAG athletes backed by Blackwater the other day.

A native of Las Piñas, Alkhaldi has been donning the national tri-colors since she was 15. Having won a total of 12 bronze medals, the 26-year-old swimmer is eyeing to get over the hump with the help of an anticipated wild home crowd at the newly built New Clark City aquatics center.

“Maybe that’s the missing key – the Filipino crowd. It’s gonna be different because I’ve never experienced having our people watching and cheering. Usually when I swim, I’m in the zone and I don’t hear anything. This time, I want to hear the Filipino crowd cheering for me,” added Alkhaldi who already represented the country in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

To familiarize herself with the FINA-certified swimming venue at the NCC Complex in Capas, Tarlac, Alkhaldi and the rest of the national swimming team have started training since last week.

This home court session for the seasoned tanker is her last build-up after a series of international training camps in US and Europe funded by supporter Blackwater.

Alkhaldi will swim in nine events – 50-meter and 100-meter butterfly, 50-meter and 100-meter backstroke, 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle, 4x100 meter freestyle relay, 4x200 meter freestyle relay and 4x100 medley relay.

She is confident of podium finishes in at least four individual events but is also looking to post good time to make the Olympic cut for the third straight edition as this upcoming SEA Games also serves as qualifier to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.