The Maldivian national swimming team has achieved noteworthy success by setting multiple national records at the ongoing Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) in Madagascar.
The excitement of the IOIG swimming events began with the preliminary round, which took place on Saturday morning. During this phase, Mubal Azzam Ibrahim, Zainab Abdulla Shafeeq, and Mohamed Rihan Shiham displayed their ability by qualifying for the final. The preliminary round itself witnessed record-breaking performances that foreshadowed the achievements to come.
Mubal Azzam Ibrahim, in particular, made his mark during the preliminary round with a national record in the 50m breaststroke event, finishing the race in 34 seconds. Hanan Hussain Haleem set a national record in the women’s 100m butterfly event with a time of 1 minute, 16.45 seconds.
Mubal’s journey of breaking records continued as he set another national record, this time in the men’s 200m freestyle event. Despite finishing sixth in the heat, his time of 2 minutes, 11.57 seconds will be hailed as a great breakthrough. Meanwhile, Zainab Abdulla Shafeeq and Mohamed Rihan Shiham displayed their skill set as well, with Zainab finishing seventh in the women’s 50m breaststroke and Rihan securing the eighth position in the 100m butterfly with a time of 1 minute, 5.96 seconds.
As the day progressed, the anticipation for the final heats grew. Despite their incredible efforts, the trio of Mubal, Rihan, and Zainab were unable to break their earlier records during the final heats. However, the excitement did not stop there with the evening witnessed the women’s relay final and the men’s relay final.
The women’s relay team finished the 4x100m relay race in an impressive 4 minutes, 48.40 seconds. On the other hand, the men’s relay team managed to surpass expectations by breaking the national record for the 4x100m relay event, completing the race in just 3 minutes, 58.33 seconds. Initially facing disqualification, the men’s relay team later received the relieving news of the decision being overturned.
