Ayah sets another new Bahrain record at swimming worlds

TDT | Manama                   

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahraini swimming sensation Ayah Bin Rajab yesterday set a new national record en route to winning her women’s 50 metres freestyle heat at the 19th FINA World Championships 2022 in Budapest, Hungary.

The supremely talented 15-year-old completed the third of 10 races in the event’s opening round with a time of 28.81 seconds. Ayah’s time eclipsed the old Bahraini best of 28.87s, set by Noor Taha last year at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Ayah had a 00.67s reaction time and secured first place a narrow 00.44s ahead of runner-up Kaya Forson of Ghana. Eunike Mathayo of Tanzania was third 02.25s behind. There were a total of eight competitors in the heat. Ayah’s brilliant performance earned her a national record for the second straight day in back-to-back appearances at the worlds.

On Thursday, the rising star also set a new Bahraini best in the women’s 50m butterfly of 30.69s. Despite her new record, Ayah was not among the 16 swimmers to make it through to the semi-finals from yesterday’s heats. Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden was the top qualifier in 24.40s, while Marie Wattel of France was the last to go through in 25.34s.

Meanwhile, also yesterday, Bahraini 18-year-old Omar Al Rowaila won the first of six heats in the men’s 50m backstroke. Al Rowaila had a time of 27.28s in first place, with a reaction of 00.60s. He finished 00.82s in front of Mekhayl Engel of Curacao while Jeno Heyns of Suriname came third 01.13s back.

From all the races in the opening stage, 16 swimmers marched on to the semi-finals, led by Justin Ress of the US in 24.24s. Last to advance was Guilherme Basseto of Brazil in 25.15s. The two races yesterday for Ayah and Al Rowaila were the last for Bahrain’s swimmers at this year’s worlds.

There were two others to fly the Kingdom’s flag in Budapest, namely Noor and Saud Ghali. The national team’s swimmers were coached by Alex Karpalev, and the delegation was headed by Bahrain Swimming Association board member and secretary general Ahmed Abdulghaffar.