SWIMMING – Four of Bahrain’s top swimmers are set to compete in the World Aquatics Championships 2025 in Singapore.
Paris 2024 Olympians Amani Alobaidli and Saud Ghali are set to be joined by Asma Le Falher and Ahmed Suhail in the swimming events at the World Aquatics Championships Arena, located at Singapore Sports Hub in the zone of Kallang.
The kingdom’s competitors will be racing in two events apiece, starting from today.
The Bahraini delegation in Singapore is headed by Bahrain Aquatics official and Rio 2016 Olympian Farhan Saleh Farhan.
“Our swimmers have been preparing with great dedication and focus for the World Aquatics Championships, and we are extremely proud of the progress they have made,” Farhan told the GDN yesterday from Singapore.
“This championship is an important opportunity for them to compete against swimmers within their level and gain valuable experience on the international stage.
“Our primary goal this year is to build on their performances, achieve personal best times, and continue developing Bahrain’s presence at major global competitions.”
Nineteen-year-old Alobaidli is set to compete in both the women’s 100m backstroke and 50m backstroke. The 100m event will be held tomorrow while the 50m will be taking place on Wednesday.
Alobaidli currently holds the national records in both disciplines across long-course venues – her best 100m mark is one minute 04.27 seconds which she set at last year’s Olympics, while her 50m record is 29.64s.
Aside from these, Alobaidli also owns the national long-course records for the women’s 50m freestyle (26.25s), women’s 100m freestyle (59.38s), and women’s 200m backstroke (2:25.16).
She also holds four national short-course records, including the women’s 100m backstroke (1:03.37), women’s 50m backstroke (28.76s), women’s 50m freestyle (26.89s), and women’s 200m backstroke (2:26.15).
Twenty-year-old Ghali will be racing in Singapore in the men’s 100m breaststroke today and the men’s 200m breaststroke on Thursday. Ghali is the national record-holder in both disciplines across long-course venues. His 100m mark is 1:04.88 and 2:21.94 over 200m. Ghali also has the long-course national record for the men’s 50m breaststroke of 30.18s.
In short-course events, Ghali has two national records – 29.21s in the 50m breaststroke and 2:16.72 in the 200m breaststroke.
Le Falher will be racing in the women’s 100m butterfly today and women’s 100m freestyle on Thursday. The 20-year-old is the national record holder across long-course races in the women’s 50m butterfly of 29.12s and the women’s 200m freestyle of 2:11.58.
Suhail is the youngest swimmer on Bahrain’s team at 17 years old. He will be competing in the men’s 1,500m freestyle on Saturday and in the men’s 400m medley on Sunday. Suhail owns the national record in the 400m medley of 4:54.79.
“Beyond results, we want our athletes to showcase their determination and passion for the sport, inspiring the next generation of Bahraini swimmers,” Farhan added.
All four of Bahrain’s swimmers were hard at work training yesterday in the pool ahead of their respective participations.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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