MANILA — Four athletes will see action at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, the Philippine Aquatics, Inc. announced Friday.
Swimmers Gian Christopher Santos and Adrian Philipp Eichler, and divers Rose Ocmer and Ariana Hannah Drake are among the 2,500 athletes from 206 countries participating in the tournament held for the first time in Southeast Asia from July 11 to Aug. 3.
Eichler, a Filipino-German, is entered in the 100m and 200m freestyle. His best time in 100m is 0:51.20 (2021). He registered a season best 0:51.34 at the World Aquatics-approved CIJ Luxembourg meet on March 7-9.
In the 200m, Eichler set a personal best and Philippine record 1:50.29 at the German Nationals last May, breaking the 1:50.82 mark of Jessie King Lacuna.
Last year, he set new Philippine records in 400m freestyle (3:51.62) and 4x50m mixed medley (1:46.56) both at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary in December, and in the 200m freestyle (1:47.98) at German Nationals in November.
Adrian and brother Alexander are members of the Swimming Club Wiesbaden 1911 team that won the 2024 German Premier League.
Like Eichler, Santos qualified for the World Aquatics Championships by achieving Qualifying Times (QT) B.
The Columbia University student clocked 3:55.61 in 400m freestyle during the Summer National Championships in Irvine, California, last July 2024.
"In Singapore, I hope to achieve my best times in both the 400m free and 200m IM events. I committed to intense, rigorous training this summer to proudly represent the country at this competition and I am excited to compete against the best athletes in the world, including Olympians and record holders," said the 19-year-old Santos in an interview.
He was born and raised in California. His father is from Pampanga and his mother from Bacolod, Negros Occidental.
Santos bagged one silver (400m IM) and three bronzes (200m IM, 1500m freestyle and 4x100m relay) at the 2022 Southeast Asian Age Group Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
He also competed at the 2022 World Junior Championships (Lima, Peru) and 2023 World Junior Championships (Netanya, Israel).
At the 2024 Philippine National tryouts, he won all his events and set two junior national records to earned the Most Valuable Swimmer award.
Other members of the Philippine contingent in Singapore are PAI president Michael Angelo Vargas, secretary general Eric Buhain and executive director Anthony Reyes, and coaches Ryan Paolo Arabejo (swimming) and Xiao Feng Cui (diving). PNA