SWIMMING – BAHRAIN bagged an impressive 16 medals yesterday, including seven gold, to top the medal table at the end of the first day in the 29th GCC Swimming Championships, currently being hosted by the kingdom.
The prestigious two-day competition is taking place at the Khalifa Sports City indoor swimming pool in Isa Town, with four of the six GCC nations taking part, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain.
The hosts’ gold-medallists included Saud Ghali, Asma Le Falher, Lamar Hussain, Sana Le Falher, Noor Taha, Sara Alqarooni, and Bahrain’s mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team.
The Bahrainis’ haul on day one also included two silver medals and seven bronze medals.
General Sports Authority CEO Dr Abdulrahman Askar was on hand during yesterday’s programme, as were Bahrain Olympic Committee executive director Ahmed Abdulghaffar, Bahrain Aquatics president Abdulla Atiya, and other officials. They presented some of the medals to the winners.
Ghali captured his gold in the men’s 200m breaststroke. The Paris 2024 Olympian triumphed with a time of two minutes 22.02 seconds, beating out Saudi’s Emad Alsibyani, who took silver in 2:22.16. Mohammed Al Otaibi, also of Saudi, won bronze in 2:26.74.
Le Falher secured her gold medal for Bahrain in the women’s 50m butterfly. She won in 29.66s as she enjoyed a comfortable gap from runner-up Lana Al Rashid of Saudi, who finished in 33.13s. Alqarooni was also on the podium, taking bronze for Bahrain in 34.34s.
Hussain won her gold medal in the women’s 1,500m freestyle, which she finished in 22:42.94.
Sana Le Falher followed suit by taking women’s 200m freestyle gold in 2:14.37. Mashael Alayad of Saudi was second in 2:19.33, while Hussain added another medal by coming away with the bronze in 2:38.81.
Taha triumphed in the women’s 50m backstroke to claim her GCC title. The Tokyo 2021 Olympian had a winning mark of 32.03s to beat Al Rashid, who had a 34.12s mark. Bahrain’s Maryam Alarayedh won bronze in 42.25s.
Alqarooni then struck gold in the women’s 200m butterfly. She had a time of 2:56.16 to lead a Bahraini one-two, as teammate Shahad Abdulaziz took silver in 3:47.83.
The mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team then completed Bahrain’s gold-medallists yesterday by taking their race in 3:50.00, narrowly edging out Saudi, who had a finishing mark of 3:51.89 for silver.
Also yesterday, Bahrain’s other silver medal was won by Lina Alhaddad in the women’s 200m breaststroke, which she finished in 3:40.53. Alayad took the gold in 2:58.33.
Meanwhile, joining Alqarooni, Hussain, and Alarayedh as bronze-medallists on day one were Ahmed Helal in the men’s 50m butterfly and men’s 50m backstroke, Bahrain’s men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team, and Bahrain’s men’s 4x100m medley relay team.
Competition continues today on the second and final day of the championships. Events will be held across two sessions – first from 9am until around 11.30am and then from 5pm until around 8pm. All are invited to watch the exciting action.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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