Hundreds of Qatar residents make a splash in Corniche waters

Doha: Qatar Swimming Association (QSA) President Khaleel Al Jabir is confident of a bright future for young swimmers as hundreds of Qatar residents participated in Doha Open Water Challenge, yesterday. 

A total of 328 athletes, featuring in different categories took the plunge in Corniche waters. The Open Water Challenge is a FINA competition organised one day earlier from a FINA Marathon Swim World Series Marathon meet, which sees top long-distance swimmers of the world in action. 

Yesterday, kids, competing in 400m category - for boys and girls aged 11-14, contributed the most in overall participation as 147 aspiring swimmers contested in the class. 

The participants showed a lot of enthusiasm and passion as they braved the Corniche waters in front of family and friends, who watched the live action from designated areas.   

“The participation this year is higher and we are happy about it,” Al Jabir told The Peninsula on the sidelines of the event. 

“The kids are showing a lot of interest. It’s a good learning experience for them,” said the QSA president before hoping for a good impact of the event on future of young swimmers.

Qatar Swimming Association President Khaleel Al Jabir (left) speaks to an official during Doha Open Water Challenge, yesterday.  

“Off course it will yield positive results. We are looking for a good talent in open water swimming. We had many swimmers for the long-distance like 1,500m and 800m and from that pool we have separated some of the swimmers for the open water swimming. We have a full programme for their development,” said Al Jabir. 

“We will see two swimmers from Qatar, both 16 years old competing with the top long-distance swimmers at FINA Marathon Swim World Series Doha (QAT) 2019 on Saturday (today). We are preparing them for the future,” the QSA president said, referring to Qatar’s Abdelrahman Hesham and Ahmed Tarek – who will compete in the challenging FINA marathon today.    

The 800m races - for boys and girls aged 15-17 – witnessed a participation of 67 swimmers while a total of 114 athletes took part in 1,200m races – for boys and girls aged 18 and over. 

Qatar’s Salama Kareem won in boy’s 400m race while Mohamed Al-Masre won the boy’s 800m race. Upcoming Qatari swimmer Walid Dalloul topped in the 1200m race. 

Meanwhile, stage is now set for the challenging FINA Marathon Swim World Series Doha (QAT) 2019. 

The top long-distance swimmers will compete over the 10km course today in the opening meet of FINA Marathon Swim World Series 2019. 

A total of 136 swimmers including 84 male and 52 female athletes from 24 countries are taking part in this marathon. 

The women’s race will start at 9am while the men’s race will kick off at 1pm.