The UAE swimming team has successfully demonstrated their commitment to finish with a handful of accolades by setting five new national records at the 10th Fina World Swimming Championships (25m) being held at the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex in Dubai.
With two more days to go at the Championship, the UAE team backed by the global swimwear brand Speedo the Emiratis have scaled new heights and are confident of achieving a few more.
The new National records created include the 100m and 200m breaststroke record by Mubarak Al Besher (new records 1:03.23 and 2:22.33 improving on the previous marks of 1:05.80 and 2:28 respectively) and 400m Individual Medley record (new record 4:36.89 eclipsing the previous mark of 4:37.50) by the captain of the UAE team Obaid Al Jesmi.
Mohammed Al Ghaferi created two new records in the 50m backstroke of 26.33 (previous record 26.8) and 50m butterfly of 25.34 (previous record 25.8).
“It feels good to be part of the progress of the UAE team. I have been with them for only three months and their dedication and achievements are significant and commendable. They are showcasing their life time best performances and to have created five new National records by just day three is really great. Half a second improvement over the previous record is considered significant. However, the boys have achieved over almost six seconds in some cases,” said Jay Benner, the UAE national team coach.
The proud team captain Obaid said: “We may not win medals, but being able to deliver our lifetime bests at the championships is a moment of pride. The team has been remarkably focused and goal oriented through the training and the championships. I am glad our hard work is paying off and we are bringing pride and hope in swimming to our country.”
“It’s an honour to be able to perform better and achieve new national records,” said Mohammed Al Ghaferi. He added: “It feels really great to be competing in a championship in UAE. The (Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid) Dubai Sports Complex, the organisation, the pools, the whole atmosphere is great and promises a lot for swimming in UAE in the coming future.”
Mubarak Al Besher said on his achievements: “I am very happy about being able to create new national records, especially while we are competing in our home country. I want to thank my coach Jay for investing in us and making us train hard to achieve our lifetime bests.”
Meanwhile, Freestyle took on a new meaning in the Speedo Media Race with journalists from a host of nations taking to the water in on Friday morning.
In three heats the colleagues battled it out in the same waters that Speedo swim stars like Ryan Lochte and Natalie Coughlin raced in the night before.
Russia’s Pavel Lysenkov took first place with a time of 32.61, Arnauld Humbert (France) took second place with 34.32 and Ana Perez (Spain) settled for third with 35.27.
On his victory Pavel said: “This is my first experience of the famous media race and I’m very happy. I swam regularly between the ages of 6 and 12 and now 22 years later – here I am!”
Ex-swimmer Ana said: ‘It feels great to swim in the pool and get on the podium.”
On being the lone female on the podium she said: “If I train a little bit harder then maybe next time I’ll make the top spot.”
Team Speedo picked up 17 medals and a world record in the Men’s 50m backstroke semifinal.
Speedo’s Auschwin Wildeboer (Spain) and Jeremy Stravious (France) qualified for the final with respective times of 23.44 and 23.74.
Auschwin said: “It wasn’t a great time, but still it was enough to go through to the final. It’s going to be pretty hard to get (a medal) but I’m actually pretty excited.”
Team Speedo also took the three top spots in the women’s 100m breaststroke semifinal with Rebecca Soni of the Speedo sponsored USA team, Speedo veteran swimmer Leisel Jones and Ji Liping of Speedo sponsored China qualifying with times of 1:04.17, 1:04.75 and 1:04.78 respectively for Saturday night’s final.
Speedo’s Ryan Lochte (USA) was the star of the night, becoming the first person to win the men’s 200m Individual Medley three times in a row and smash a world record with a time of 1:50.09.
When asked about his green limited edition Ryan Lochte Speedo high-tops that he’s been sporting throughout the competition he said: “Yeah, that’s the reason I’m going faster, it’s the shoes.”
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