SWIMMING – BAHRAIN were crowned overall champions last night in the 29th GCC Swimming Championships, which came to a close in the kingdom.
The nation’s top swimmers, both men and women, bagged the overall crown after capturing a whopping 26 medals yesterday, including 12 gold, to bring their two-day tally for the competition to 42 medals – 19 gold, eight silver, and 15 bronze medals.
Attending yesterday’s events at the Khalifa Sports City indoor pool in Isa Town and awarding some of the victors were Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) secretary general Faris Al Kooheji, BOC executive director Ahmed Abdulghaffar, Bahrain Aquatics president Abdulla Atiya, and other high-ranking sports officials.
The championships featured swimmers from four of the six GCC nations. Finishing behind the Bahrainis on the final medal table were Saudi Arabia with 12 gold medals and 55 in total, while Kuwait came third with seven gold and 25 in total and Oman were fourth with two total medals.
Bahrain’s gold-medallists yesterday were spearheaded by the trio of Noor Taha, Sana Le Falher, and Asma Le Falher, who each came away with three individual titles for a sensational haul. Joining them were Lina Alhaddad, Sara Alqarooni, and the mixed 4x100m medley relay team.
Taha won her gold medals in the women’s 100m backstroke, where she clocked a mark of one minute 11.58 seconds; the women’s 50m breaststroke, winning at 37.28s; and the women’s 200m backstroke, which she took in 2:40.67.
Sana Le Falher triumphed in the women’s 800m freestyle (9:50.00), the women’s 200m individual medley (2:37.50), and the women’s 400m freestyle (4:48.06); while Asma Le Falher struck gold in the women’s 100m freestyle (1:02.77), women’s 100m butterfly (1:07.42), and the women’s 50m freestyle (29.01s).
Alhaddad secured first place in the women’s 100m breaststroke (1:38.03) and Alqarooni in the women’s 400m individual medley (6:09.03), while the mixed 4x100m medley relay team won their event in 4:19.66.
Bahrain’s 26-medal haul on the concluding day of competition also included six silver medals and eight bronze medals.
The silver medals were claimed by Alhaddad in the women’s 50m breaststroke (43.09s), Lamar Hussain in both the women’s 800m freestyle (11:34.56) and the women’s 400m freestyle (5:33.72), Maryam Alarayedh in both the women’s 100m freestyle (1:18.01) and the women’s 50m freestyle (34.31s), and Abdulla Jamal in the men’s 50m freestyle (24.37s).
The bronze medals were claimed by Saud Ghali in the men’s 50m breaststroke (30.09s), Jamal in the men’s 100m breaststroke (1:06.23), Alqarooni in the women’s 100m butterfly (1:18.90), Hashim Alhussaini in the men’s 200m backstroke (2:17.05), Bahrain’s men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team in 3:42.38, and Shahad Abdulaziz, who won three bronze medals in the women’s 200m individual medley (3:15.54), women’s 100m backstroke (1:27.94), and women’s 200m backstroke (3:09.68).
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))