Swimming in Mongolia continues its rise on the international racing scene. The enthusiasm of 26 Mongolian swimmers competing in Shanghai and 16 set to attend the World Aquatics Swimming World are clear indicators that things are steadily moving in the right direction.
Mongolia brought the second largest cadre of competitors to the first stop on the 2024 Swimming World Cup circuit; a total of 26 swimmers, with the oldest athlete 21 years old. Only the People’s Republic of China, the host nation of the Swimming World Cup in Shanghai, had more competitors. Before the pandemic, 25 swimmers from Mongolia competed in the Beijing edition in 2017, but only this year did the federation invest so heavily in their future.
However, there continues to be a stark contrast between the Chinese swimmers' performances and those of their Mongolian competitors. Chinese swimmers advanced to almost every final for the three-day race weekend in Shanghai (18-20 October). No Mongolian reached qualifying out of the heats and into evening finals, though that’s the eventual performance objective for the Mongolian Amateur Swimming Federation’s General Secretary, Enkhbaatar Myagmarjav. It’s a position that Myagmarjavin has held since mid-2023 and he’s working around the clock to expand the opportunities for Mongolian athletes. He hopes that when they race against the best swimmers in the world, they will develop the requisite skills to steadily improve and to someday be competitive in the future.
There have been several positive trends at the elite end. This summer, the Batbayar siblings, Enkhkhuslen and Enkhtamir, represented Mongolia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. While there have been instances of siblings competing together in the Olympic Games representing other countries, this is the first time for Mongolia.
Enkhkhuslen "Huska" Batbayar was competing at her second Olympic Games, three years after her debut in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics where she swam the 50m freestyle in the summer of 2021. This summer, the 22-year-old placed 18th in the 200-meter freestyle at the Paris 2024 Games. She set a Mongolian record with her 200m time of 1:59.94 on July 28 in Paris. Weeks later, she was heading to the USA to join the University of Nevada swim team under coach Brendon Bray, who was thrilled to welcome her, saying:
“Huska is one of the highest-level swimmers ever recruited to Nevada. We are so proud of her performance in these past Olympic Games. She will follow other great middle-distance freestylers who have represented our program and bring a great attitude and work ethic to our team. We can’t wait to get started working with her.”
Erkhes Enkhtur attended the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar, setting Mongolian records in the 50m backstroke (26.72) and 100m backstroke (58.89) swimming faster than his previous marks of 26.94 and 59.22 from 2023. He achieved his lifetime bests only a few weeks later at the 11th Asian Age Group Championships held in New Clark City in the Philippines, swimming 26.21 in the 50m back and 58.50 in the 100m back during prelims.
Enkhtur also studies in the USA at the Spire Academy, an international high school and postgraduate sports performance training and education boarding school in Ohio. According to his swim coach Thad Schultz:“Enkhtur didn’t talk much during the first few months as he learned English, but his proficiency has been improving this semester, so he can talk with college coaches during the recruiting process.
“He’s a great teammate, supportive of everybody, and he’s a super smart student of the sport, which is helpful, added Schultz. “He grasps concepts quickly and jumps onto things at a really good pace. He’s coachable, teachable. He didn’t talk much during his first few months, but that’s because his English wasn’t phenomenal. He’s getting a lot better at that, that’s been a focus since we want to be able to talk with college coaches. He wants to race that level of competition on the international stage, Enkhtur is still a few seconds outside of Paris 2024 Olympic qualifying range, but I see the LA 2028 Olympics in his future.”
Mongolia first participated in Olympic competition at both the 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games and in each edition since with one exception. Athletes from Mongolia won their first medals at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. As a result of the U.S.-led boycott in 1980, Mongolia joined the boycott led by the Soviet Union at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics. The nation won its first two gold medals at the Beiging 2008 Olympics in judo and boxing. Mongolia swimmers have in the quest for the nation’s first medal at the World Aquatics Championships or Olympic Games.
Although all efforts are dedicated to future improvement, swimming does not have an exceptionally high profile in Mongolia. The largest pool in the country is a five-lane, 25-meter facility in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. The country does not support competitive aquatic programs for artistic swimming, diving, open water swimming or water polo.
Mongolia is a landlocked nation, bordered by only two nations with a 3.5 million population based on the latest census. and ranks number 133 in the list of countries by census. It is sparsely populated despite its vast size. At 603,909 square miles, Mongolia is the world’s 18th largest country. The southern portion is taken up by the Gobi desert, while the northern and western portions are mountainous.
There are approximately 600 competitive swimmers in Mongolia. About 500 swimmers compete in the National Championships, and almost as many attend the country’s annual President’s Cup.
Swimmers attending the last weekend’s Swimming World Cup in Shanghai hail from five different swim clubs based in the capital city Ulaanbaatar: We Aquatics, Starsword Fish, GoDo Swimming, Alpha and Dalain Khaaduud. Two of their five head coaches represented their country in Olympic and World Aquatics competitions. Dulgunn Batsaikhan competed at the 2009 Rome, the 2013 Barcelona and the 2017 Kazan World Aquatics Championships, and three short course world championships: 2010 Dubai, 2012 Istanbul, and 2014 Qatar. At age 29, Batsaikhan swam the 50m freestyle in 24.90 at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Batsaikhan, the father of two young children, is the head coach of the 25-member strong GoDo Swim Team, which trains at the King Sports Complex.
At age 16, Demuui Erdenemunkh competed in the 2011 Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru. He also swam at the World Championships 25m in Istanbul, Turkey and in Barcelona, Spain at the following year’s World Aquatics Championships. Erdenemunkh is the head coach of We Aquatics, a 32-member squad that also trains at the King Sports Complex. The experienced Erdenemunkh was in Shanghai as one of the Mongolian swim coaches and is planning to attend the second SWC stop in Seoul. 16 athletes and three team officials are expected to race in Incheon, starting tomorrow and running through Saturday (24-26 October).
In June, a clinic for 30 swim coaches was held in the capital city. A development plan for expanding swimming in the country was put forward with objectives to organise annual swimming championships efficiently and to build a recruitment and training programme for swimmers aged 10 and under.
Another sign of significant progress is the development and proficiency of swimming officials. Temuulen Davaasambuu was Mongolia’s first official to officiate at a Swimming World Cup. He attended the Shanghai World Cup and was planning to officiate in Incheon. This past May, more than 30 officials attended a World Aquatics-sponsored Level 1 clinic for technical swimming officials led by an expert swimming official, offering the best education and training.
Next July, Four athletes will compete at the World Aquatics Championships - Singapore 2025. The Batbayar siblings are likely to be two of the four selected for next summer’s most important swimming event.
A collaborative effort is underway in Mongolia and it has a promising future. Experienced swim coaches, dedicated officials are working hand in hand to ensure that young athletes have greater chances to participate and to swim smarter and faster in the future.