Brent ace tanker Mojdeh all set for Seoul swimming tilt

Filipino junior record holder Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh will open the country’s campaign at the Asia Pacific Activities Conference (APAC) swimming championships, which begin Friday at the Seoul Foreign School in Seoul, South Korea.

The 16-year-old Filipino-Iranian tanker represents the Brent International School Manila and is fighting for medals in the girls’ 200m individual medley, 100m individual medley and 100m butterfly.

In addition to the individual competitions, Mojdeh, known in the swimming community as “The Water Beast”, also competes in the girls’ 4 x 100m freestyle relay and 4 x 100m medley relay.

Currently, weather conditions in Seoul are reaching negative two degrees – a big factor for athletes, especially swimmers, coming from a tropical country.

But Mojdeh was used to competing in cold weather, having already seen action in Japan, France, South Africa and China during the winter season.

“The weather in Seoul is definitely one of the coldest we have experienced in our competitions from different countries. Jasmine is definitely excited to be here as this is our first time in Korea,” said Joan Mojdeh, President of Swim League Philippines, Jasmine’s mother.

Joining Jasmine on the team are Kira Ellis, Kira Louise Hedeager, Sofia Imasa, Natalia Lucia Javier, Kirsten Robyn Tan, Natalie Ward, Marco Ziguel Campos, Connor Thomas Hodges, Ethan Joseph Hodges, Park Gwanjoon, Park Jun Seo and Ethan Matthew Waskiewicz.

Besides Brent International School, the other competing teams are Canadian Academy, Concordia International School Shanghai, Hong Kong International School, United Nations International School of Hanoi, Taejon Christian International School, American International School of Guangzhou, International School of Beijing and the Seoul Foreign School, Shanghai American School-Pudong, Shanghai American School-Puxi and Western Academy of Beijing.

“It will be her first time competing as a representative for Brent in APAC. We know APAC has a reputation for having super fast swimmers who are also national team caliber. So she’s really looking forward to it,” Joan added.

This will be Mojdeh’s first international competition this year.

She had a successful campaign in the 2022 season, including her remarkable performance at the prestigious World Junior Swimming Championships in Lima, Peru, where she made it to the semifinals.

Mojdeh became the second Filipino to advance to the semi-finals of the world convention.

“We’ve been looking forward to it since she started studying in Brent. It’s been canceled many times during the pandemic, but we’re grateful she now has the opportunity to swim here,” Joan shared.

“We pray that she can achieve her personal best times. We are grateful to Brent International School for this opportunity. To coach Ramon Reloj and Coach Cathy Ong and the entire BISM to organize this event,” she concluded.