16th FINA worlds Ten-year-old Alzain finishes third in heat
Ten years old athlete from Bahrain, Alzain Tareq. PHOTO: AFP
Alzain Tareq grinned on Saturday as the world championships’ youngest competitor in Kazan swam her personal best to finish third in the 50m freestyle heat.
The 10-year-old had caused a splash at the Kazan pool on Friday morning when she raced in the women’s 50m butterfly heats and finished last of the event’s 64 competitors.
She is believed to be the youngest swimmer to have ever swum at a world championships.
She was back in the pool on Saturday to finish third in her 50 freestyle heat and was 105th overall of the event’s 113 racers with a new personal best of 35.78 seconds.
But the pint-sized Bahraini is just happy to have met her idols like Missy Franklin of the USA and Sweden’s butterfly world champion Sarah Sjostrom. “I didn’t get the time I wanted, but I still beat my personal best, so I am happy,” beamed Tareq.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2015.