Farida Osman

Farida Osman
Personal information
Full name Farida Hisham Osman
Nationality  Egypt
Born 18 January 1995 (1995-01-18) (age 17)
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Weight 58 kg (130 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Stroke(s) butterfly, freestyle
Club Gezira Sporting Club

Farida Hisham Osman (born January 18, 1995, in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA) is an Egyptian swimmer. An Egyptian National and African Champion and record holder, Farida specializes in the sprinting swimming events of 50m, 100m Butterfly, 50m, 100m Freestyle and 50m, 100m Backstroke. She is currently coached by Ukrainian Coach Volodymyr Hotsu at the Gezira Sporting Club. Farida holds the Senior National records for all the above mentioned events[4] including an African Record and Title in the 50m Butterfly at a championship record time of 27.28.[5] Recently, Farida participated at the 3rd FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Lima, Peru. Farida was crowned world champion in the 50m Butterfly in a world junior championship record time of 26.69.[1] With her gold medal, Farida placed Egypt for the first time in history on the medalists table, ranked 11th world wide.[6]

Contents

Early life

Farida Osman was born in Indianapolis 1995, daughter to Dentist Hisham Osman and Dentist/Associate Professor (Cairo University) Randa Elsalawy. She started swimming at the age of 5 alongside of her brother Ahmed Osman, currently a UC Berkeley Student, at the Gezira Sporting Club.

Farida started at the Oasis French School in Cairo, but then transitioned to the French Embassy's Lycée Français du Caire. Farida is now enrolled at Cairo American College.

Career

Early Career Farida started swimming at the age of 5 but took a break from swimming to pursue her synchronized swimming passion. At the age of 11, Osman returned to swimming and swam at her first Egyptian National Championship where she placed 1st place in all the 50m and 100m freestyle and butterfly and second in the 200m IM where she won the trophy for "Best Swimmer" for that competition.

Immediately at the age of 12, Farida was selected to represent Egypt at the 11th Pan Arab Games in 2007, which was held in Cairo Egypt. She was the youngest athlete on the team and participated in the 50m, 100m freestyle and the 50m and 100m butterfly. Farida was able to break the Arab record for the 50m Butterfly where she became the youngest Egyptian and Arab athlete to ever win the event and break the record. Farida also finished 6th in the 100m Butterfly.

Also at the age of 12, Farida attended the All Africa Games where she finished 5th in the 50m Butterfly with a time of 28.95.[7][8]

Farida continued her swimming career by participating in various international competitions such as the International Sindlefingen Swimming Competition (ISSC) where she competed in all sprint events in backstroke, butterfly and freestyle.[9] She received the 2nd place trophy for best sprinters in the competition.

At 13, Farida travelled to USA for a summer camp where she swam for the Bear Swimming Team in Berkeley, California. She participated in various competitions such as RESLs, Junior Olympics, Sectionals and Far Westerns[10] where she was in the top 10 places of her year group.

Major Achievements

3rd FINA Junior World Championship, Lima, Peru

At the 3rd FINA FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, which were held in Lima, Peru, Farida was one of the biggest surprised at the competition. In a world junior championship record time of 26.69, Farida became world junior champion in the 50m Butterfly, placing Egypt 11th on the medalists charts, the highest rank any African or Arab nation has reached in a long time.[6] In the 100m Butterfly, Farida placed 15th with a time of 1.02.18.[11] Not only has Farida surprised the world, but Egypt has never owned a world record in swimming or joined the "Medalists Club" throughout its gloriously long history.

13th FINA World Championship, Rome, Italy

At the 13th FINA 2009 World Aquatic Championships, which were held in Roma, Italy, Farida was among the youngest swimmers at the competition. She placed 66th in the 50m Freestyle clocking 26.77.[12] She also placed 50th in the 50m Butterfly with a time of 27.78,[13] making her the fastest swimmer in the world for her age group. Moreover, she placed 87th in the 100m free (59.45)[14] and 64th in the 100m butterfly (1.03.21).[15]

8th Junior African Championship, Mauritius

Shortly after the World Championships, Farida went to Mauritius to represent Egypt at the 8th Junior African Champrionship. As usual, Farida was within the top swimmers who dominated the meet. She placed 1st in the 50m Freestyle, setting a new Junior African record with a time of 26.36.[16] Similarly, in the 50m Butterfly, her apparently strongest event, she broke another Junior African record with a time of 27.60.[17] Dominating in the sprinting events, Farida also won the gold medal in the 50m backstroke with a record time of 31.04.[18] In her remaining events, Farida won the silver medal in the 100m Butterfly with a time of 1.03.16, finishing second to South Africa's Vanessa Mohr. In both the 100m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke, Farida finished 3rd place.[19] As a team, Egypt, including Farida, finished 2nd in the 4x100m Freestyle, 4x100m IM and 4x200m Freestyle.

References

  1. ^ a b http://championships.coloradotime.com/lima2011/110816F015.htm
  2. ^ "10th African Swimming Championships Results". http://www.aquafrica.ma/index5%20j2.php. Retrieved 2010-09-120. 
  3. ^ a b c "9th Junior African Swimming Championships Results". http://www.orange.mu/Magic/resultsday3.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-120. 
  4. ^ "Egyptian Swimming Records" (in arabic). http://www.esf-eg.org/pdf/records/records_2009-2010Apr_w.pdf. 
  5. ^ "2010 African Swimming Championships Day 2 Results". www.aquafrica.ma. 2010-09-14. http://www.aquafrica.ma/index5%20j2.php. Retrieved 2010-09-14. 
  6. ^ a b http://www.fina.org/H2O/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2487:lima-2011-day-6-great-success-42-championships-records-and-19-nations-with-medals&catid=213:world-junior-swimming-championships&Itemid=773
  7. ^ https://www.juniorswimmer.com/results/published/5834.asp
  8. ^ http://www.coja2007.dz/
  9. ^ by GeoLogix AG, Switzerland. Swim Rankings. Retrieved on 2010-11-18.
  10. ^ Resl Championships 2008 - Women's 50yd Freestyle. Swimming Times. Retrieved on 2010-11-18.
  11. ^ http://championships.coloradotime.com/lima2011/110816S028.htm
  12. ^ http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2009/Roma2009/C74A_ResSummary_33_Heats_Women_50_Free.pdf
  13. ^ http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2009/Roma2009/C74A_ResSummary_28_Heats_Women_50_Fly.pdf
  14. ^ http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2009/Roma2009/C74A_ResSummary_22_Heats_Women_100_Free.pdf
  15. ^ http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2009/Roma2009/C74A_ResSummary_1_Heats_Women_100_Fly.pdf
  16. ^ 8th JUNIOR AFRICAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS - Results list. Orange.mu (2009-10-24). Retrieved on 2010-11-18.
  17. ^ 8th JUNIOR AFRICAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS - Results list. Orange.mu (2009-10-24). Retrieved on 2010-11-18.
  18. ^ 8th JUNIOR AFRICAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS - Results list. Orange.mu (2009-10-23). Retrieved on 2010-11-18.
  19. ^ 8th JUNIOR AFRICAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS - Results list. Orange.mu (2009-10-22). Retrieved on 2010-11-18.