The Filipino-Kiwi swimmer placed fifth in Heat 5 of the freestyle event, clocking in 49.64 seconds.

Gebbie sets a new Philippine record in the event, resetting his previous record of 49.94 he produced in the 2019 FINA World Championships in South Korea.

Another proud moment for Gebbie is he was the best Southeast Asian in the event, he even outclassed the 2016 Rio Games men’s 100m butterfly gold medalist Joseph Schooling of Singapore, who placed sixth in the heat with a time of 49.84 seconds.

Both Southeast Asians, though, did not make the top 16 semifinals cut as Gebbie finished 36th and Schooling placed 39th out of the 71 participants of the men’s 100m freestyle preliminaries.

Gebbie will return to action for the men’s 50-meter freestyle on Friday (July 30).