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MMohamed Ahmed Durrani, a swimming star in the making. The young swimmer from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who represents the army at the local level, showed a lot of promise during the 8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Peru, Lima, a few days ago. He broke six national under-16 records during the global event. He broke Aman Siddiqui’s records in the 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly and set four national best records in the 100m backstroke, 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly and 200m backstroke.
He resides in Dubai with his family as his father, Asif Durrani, works in the construction industry in the UAE.
Ahmed wants to compete for a long time for Pakistan and win the laurels of the country. Let’s ask Ahmed and he will tell his story about swimming and teaching and how he manages these two at the same time.
“I started swimming when I was just nine years old. I was selected in the Jumeirah Primary School team for three years – from 2015 to 2017. I won the Swimmer of the Year award three years in a row and every year I broke three,” Ahmed says in an interview with The News on Sunday (TNS): “My records still stand today. In 2017, I joined the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa team and in 2018 I participated for the first time in the 23rd National Junior Championship. Swimming Championships held in Peshawar. In that event, she broke the national records for the under 12 meters in the 50-meter backstroke, 50-meter breaststroke and 100-meter backstroke. She managed three golds and two silvers, with silver coming in the 50m freestyle and another event. Then Ahmed said.
“I came to Lahore and participated in the 24th National Swimming Championships in 2019. I managed to break the under-14 backstroke record even though I was the youngest in that age group and got the gold medal in the 200m backstroke. Three silvers,” Ahmed said. .
“In November 2021, I participated in the 25th National Swimming Championships in Lahore while representing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and in this event I managed to break four national records under the age of 16, although I was the youngest in my class, in the 200m, And 50-meter backstroke, 100-meter backstroke and 50-meter butterfly, and she also won the gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke.
“I am very passionate about swimming and I am very proud to represent Pakistan in the international arena. God willing I will try to get a medal for Pakistan not only in Asia but also further afield. I am doing A levels from Jumeirah College Dubai and my schedule is very strict. I do my sessions from 5 am to 6 am and I start my day early in the morning around 5 am After doing the sessions I go to attend my school and if there is a need I also attend my sessions in the evening too I am very thankful to Pakistan Swimming Federation (PSF) for supporting me and enabling me to participate in the 8th Junior World Championship in Lima. It was on a self-financing basis, but I hope to get additional support from the federation so that I can achieve the glories of Pakistan.”
“The standard of swimming in Pakistan is rising rapidly. Despite the shortcomings, I have seen great talents there. The young children from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are outstanding. I am not dual national. I am only a Pakistani citizen. My father works in the construction industry and I am based here in the UAE,” “My mother was born in Peshawar and my father is Pashtun. In 2018, I still remember, when I wanted to attend an event in Pakistan, I faced a lot of challenges. We were frustrated not to come to Pakistan but thank God KP helped me a lot.” “Going forward, God willing, I would like to be proud of my country. The support I received from Ittihad, Pakistan Army, KP and Syed Aqil Shah districts was really commendable. I have achieved many goals with their blessings,” Ahmed signed.
Ahmed is a true talent and he is fortunate to have a place in the UAE where he can get high-level training opportunities. If we look at our national circuit, we will find many athletes who are based abroad but have been instrumental in the success of the sport in Pakistan. I hope Ahmed will take swimming as a profession and go a long way to earning medals for the country in the international circuit. The big problem with swimming is that in the past few years we have seen some very talented swimmers based abroad come to the fore, winning medals at various stages but vanishing when they get the chance to compete in the Olympics. I hope Ahmed takes a different approach and continues to play for the nation for years to come.
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