Chloe Isleta ended her first-ever stint in the FINA World Swimming Championships on a good note after finishing in 21st place overall in the women’s 50-meter backstroke, Sunday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The 30th Southeast Asian Games silver medalist in the 400-meter medley relay was one of the quickest off the blocks with 0.57 seconds of reaction time.
She then continued to keep in step with the leaders at the start, but most swimmers caught on to her near the finish, eventually pushing her to eighth place in the heats. Isleta touched the pad at 27.62 seconds.
Isleta registered the second-best performance among the three SC Worlds debutants after Sebastian Cook’s 800 FINA points on Saturday at the men’s 200-meter breaststroke. She ended with 796 FINA points in this event after taking 749 in the 100-meter.
The 2020 Pac-12 Winter Honor Roll member recently ended her stint with the Arizona State Sun Devils and decided to suit up for De La Salle University for her final year of eligibility.
Swimming standout and Olympian Jasmine Alkhaldi is the last remaining competitor for the Philippines, taking the heats for the women’s 5o-meter freestyle on Monday at 1:30 p.m. (Philippine time).
