MANILA, Philippines – Swimming’s world governing body FINA confirmed that Chloe Isleta did not meet the conditions as the Philippine Swimming Inc. (PSI) excluded her in its roster for the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

PSI sent only Jasmine Alkhaldi, Miranda Renner, and Jonathan Cook to the biennial meet after being forced to leave out Isleta – the Philippines’ lone gold medalist in the previous Southeast Asian Games – due to FINA rules.

Isleta originally cracked the World Championships lineup that included Alkhaldi, Renner, and Luke Gebbie as the three achieved the standard entry time.

FINA rules state that countries which have three swimmers who attained the standard entry time have the option to include one additional swimmer, “provided that both genders are represented.”

This explained the addition of Isleta, who did not meet the standard entry time in her event but got in due to her FINA points.

But with Gebbie withdrawing from the World Championships due to an injury, PSI needed to remove Isleta as only two swimmers – Alkhaldi and Renner – who accomplished the standard entry time remained.

For countries with one or two swimmers who achieved the standard entry time, FINA allows a maximum entry of four athletes – two male and two female.

PSI president Lailani Velasco requested for an exception to have three female and one male to represent the Philippines in the World Championships only to be denied by FINA.

“FINA rules must be strictly respected by all national federations,” said FINA sports director Pere Miro in a letter dated June 18.

“Therefore, with only two athletes who qualified with a standard entry time for the FINA World Championships 2022, the maximum number of swimmers allowed is two male athletes and two female athletes.

“It is not possible to have three female athletes and one male athlete.”

With the two female spots occupied, PSI instead included Cook based on universality with the highest FINA points.

Alkhaldi and Renner will compete in the women’s 50m freestyle and women’s 50m butterfly, respectively, while Cook will take part in the men’s 200m breaststroke. – Rappler.com