Farida Osman from Egypt is the sole African female swimmer of the FINA Champions Swim Series, currently underway in Indianapolis (USA) for the last leg of the 2019 edition.
Osman, who trains in Virginia takes this responsibility very seriously.
“I am originally from Egypt but I train in the U.S. I am really proud to be representing not only Egypt and Africa but also people from the Middle-East in general. I feel like we need a lot more representation of that area. I am really honoured and proud. Hopefully I can inspire more swimmers to want to achieve great things and also represent this region of the world.”
At 24 years-old, the weight of the pressure does not impress her.
“It definitely has a little bit of pressure to represent Africa because I want to be a good ambassador and role model. But I try to make it more an honour and I take pride in what I am doing and make it a positive thing.”
Egypt counts a lot of good swimmers and the sport is growing. Osman explains the potential of this young country.
“Egypt has a really good potential. With good resources and support we can do a lot more at the international level but I know that a lot of swimmers work really hard. They just need a little bit more of the smaller details to make a big difference. Swimming in Egypt is definitely on the right tracks to achieving great things.”
After racing at the Champions Swim Series in Budapest, Osman highlights that the Hungarian capital holds a special place in her heart.
“I love the pool in Budapest. It was my first international medal so it was really fun to race there again.”
“I love the Champions Swim Series concept! The fact that we can swim next to the best swimmers in the world at the same time is so fun. We never have a big competition that is so fun with no pressure like this. It is just amazing to get out there and race.”
“It is great that we get to race swimmers from different parts of the world. You get different energies from the pool.”
Very conscious that the sport is changing and moving into the right direction with this new competition, Osman said:
“I think it is very important to have competition like this one because we want to have more opportunities to swim. It is nice to have a competition that shows how hard we work all year around. This is what we deserve and hopefully we can encourage more people to start watching swimming.”
The African record holder concludes the interview by dreaming about a medal at the Olympic Games in 2020.
“I am going to a training camp after this meet and I will then head to South Korea for the World Championships.”
“Overall, I want to be the first Egyptian to medal at the Olympic Games so Tokyo is always on the back of my mind. It is a lot of pressure but I know I can do it.”
Osman will race the 100m fly on Friday and the 50m freestyle and 50m fly on Saturday
You can watch all the races Live Streamed on FINAtv.