Bahrain finish with record haul

Manama : Bahrain’s youth national swimming team finished with a record 43 medals behind Qatar on Saturday, on the concluding day of the four-day 26th GCC Water Games in the Saudi Arabian city of Damman.

The Bahrainis under the auspices of the Bahrain Swimming Association (BSA) had its best ever result since winning the first edition back in 1991 in Oman when 36 medals were won.

Gold medals on the final day were won by Ali Alawi (100 metres freestyle, 11-12 years), Ali Daraj (50 metres breaststroke, 11-12), Sanad Abdulla (50 metres backstroke, 13-14), Abdulrahman Mubarak (200 metres butterfly 13-14), Abdulraham Mubarak (100 metres backstroke 13-14) and the 4x100 metres 13-14 years individual medley by (Abdulla Isa, Sanad Abdulla, Abdulrahman Mubarak, Abdulla Jamal).

Silver medals were won by Abdulla Jamal (200 metres breaststroke, 13-14), Ahmed Abdulnabi (50 metres backstroke (11-12), Abdulla Isa (200 metres butterfly), Ali Alawi (200 metres freestyle, 11-12)  and Ahmed Abdulnabi (100 metres backstroke (11-12) with a lone bronze from Abdul Aziz Daraj (1,500 metres freestyle).

“This has been a tremendous achievement by our swimmers at this meet and they have excelled and beaten our previous record medal haul of 36 in Oman. It is our hope now that some of our swimmers will be in the frame and in coming times, they will qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan,” said Tariq Juma, Board Member of the Bahrain Swimming Association and Head of the Technical Committee.