Young swimmer Ali Al Kaabi is determined to make history for the UAE next month.
The 16-year-old butterfly sprinter wants to become the first swimmer from the Emirates to qualify for a major championship with an A-standard time as he targets a spot in the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing this August.
Al Kaabi swam a personal best 26.16 seconds in the 50m butterfly in last weekend’s Winter Nationals at the Hamdan Sports Complex, which is within the B-standard qualifying time for Nanjing.
But he’ll need to replicate his performance or go even faster in next month’s fourth Dubai International Swimming Championships, which is a qualifying event for the Youth Olympics.
The A-standard for the boys’ 50m butterfly is 25.47 seconds while the B-standard is 26.32 seconds.
“Hopefully I’ll do even better,” Al Kaabi told Sport360° after he clocked 26.16 last weekend. “Right now my timing would qualify me with a B-standard, but I want to qualify with an A-standard timing and I believe I can do that in next month’s qualifying event.
“That would be the first time in the history of the UAE that a swimmer qualifies to any Olympic Games or world championship with an A-standard time.
“In fact, no one has ever competed in a major championship by qualification, we always go with a wild card invitation.
“I want to do something new for the UAE because the UAE has given me everything beyond my imagination and I’d love to give something back.”
Diving World Series
The world’s best divers will descend on the Hamdan pool this weekend (March 20-22) to compete in the FINA Diving World Series.
Diving superstars like world champion Qiu Bo, Olympic champion David Boudia and Olympic bronze medallist Tom Daley will headline the men’s field while China’s unstoppable trio Wu Minxia, He Zi and Chen Ruolin will feature in the women’s competition.
Between them, the three women possess nine Olympic gold medals, 16 World Championship crowns and the title of FINA Female Diver of the Year in 2010 (Chen), 2011 and 2012 (Wu) and 2013 (He).
