Bahrain’s two-time Olympic swimmer Samira Al Bitar has advised Bahrain’s Fatema Al Mahmeed, who will represent the Kingdom at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, to make her trip to Rio de Janiero a learning one.
Al Bitar made her Olympic debut in 2004 in Athens when she swam the 50m freestyle as a wild card.
Her second appearance came in 2008 in Beijing as she won her heat in the 50m freestyle, clocking in 30.32 seconds with her closest competitor being Benin’s Gloria Koussihouede who finished in 37.09 seconds. However, her effort was not enough to advance to the next round.
“The first time I went there, I was 14, I didn’t know what the Olympics were. Now if I could do it again, I wouldn’t want to go when I was 14, I’d like to have gone when I was 18 and 22,” Al Bitar said.
She said the stress she faced being a first-time Olympian made it harder to perform on the highest level.
Fatema, a 16-year-old grade 11 student at the Ibn Khuldoon National School, started her swimming career two years ago with the Bahrain Swimming Association (BSA). Her first international competition was the World Swimming Championship in Kazan last year.
She currently trains under the BSA’s Belarusian coach, Aliaksandr Karpaliou.
In 2000, Bahrain’s Fatema Gerashi, 12, was disqualified from the 50m freestyle swimming race for shaking on the starting blocks.
Nerve-wrecking
“Sitting in a room looking at the television screens and then going into the hall to find more than a thousand people just watching you is very nerve-wrecking,” said Al Bitar, who has now quit swimming and taken up triathlon.
However, Al Bitar did highlight the difference between her mentality change between her first participation and her second.
“When I was 14, I was a little bit shy and starstruck, but the second time was more of a learning experience. Fatema should look forward to concentrate on all the other athletes around her. Her participation means she can get the chance to see what the other swimmers are doing, what they eat and how they train,” Al Bitar said.
“You see everything in depth while you are in the Olympics. Doping is a major issue and both times I went I was randomly tested. You see the whole process and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,”
Al Bitar has advised Fatema to enjoy her time in Rio and make the most out of it to herself as a swimmer specially with the way the Bahrain Swimming Association supports the athletes.
“I feel the association knows what the potential of the swimmers are. They will not push anyone to a point where they could make them hate the sport or decide to quit swimming,” she said.
Al Bitar herself quit swimming when she noticed she had failed to improve on her timings, and was not getting better for herself.