Thankfully, he decided to come back.
At 20 years old, Jarod Hatch became part of the Philippine swim team that participated in the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games held in Manila four years ago. He came up short of a podium finish in the men’s 100m butterfly. He was also part of the men's 4x100m medley relay, where the Philippine team did not finish to lose in heartbreaking fashion. In 2021, he decided to retire and then skipped the biennial meet.
But this 2023, in yet another edition of the SEA Games, Hatch is part of the Philippine delegation in Cambodia.
“I don’t want to be 40 years old thinking about, ‘What if?’ I wanted to make sure that I had no regrets and I’m happy that I came back,” Hatch told One Sports' Cesca Litton-Kalaw, revealing the reason for his comeback.
The 24-year-old swimmer should indeed be happy. On Tuesday at the Aquatic Center of the Morodok Techo National Stadium, he bagged a bronze medal in the same 100m butterfly event where he missed out a podium finish in 2019.
The California-born athlete seemed like a man on a mission in his return to the national team. Last February, in the Official National Swim Tryouts in Capas, Tarlac, he broke the Philippine record in the men’s 50m freestyle preliminaries by clocking in at 24.27 seconds. In doing so, Hatch qualified to represent the flag in the regional event.
And when he finally got the chance to get his country a medal, the comeback kid made sure that he’s going to deliver.
“The last 25 [meters] really hurt. But it was a matter of how bad do I want it. And luckily, I was able to get my hand on the wall to get a medal,” Hatch said, describing the final stretch of the contest.
Aside from finishing third in the 100m butterfly, Jarod helped the Philippines capture a silver medal in the mixed 4x100 relay along with teammates Thanya Dela Cruz, Jerard Jacinto, who recently had to juggle the games along with school, and veteran Jasmine Alkhaldi, who continues to add to her medal collection.
Now that Hatch has tasted success in the international stage while wearing the Philippine colors, retirement is the farthest thing from his mind. He’s now looking forward to train even harder, realizing that he’s gotten a step closer to accomplishing a lot more.
“I’m happy that I took one step forward today. But that’s not where I want to end up. I want to get more. That’s what I have to think about in practice. I’m excited to get back to work after this meet.”
(With reports from Cesca Litton-Kalaw, One Sports)
(GM)