Ahmad Al-Kudmani (Arabic: احمد صفوان القضماني; born 18 August 1979) is a Saudi Arabian former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events.[1] He is a two-time Olympian and a multiple-time medalist at the Pan Arab Games.

Ahmad Al-Kudmani
Ahmad Al-Kudmani in 2022
Personal information
National team Saudi Arabia
Born (1979-08-18) 18 August 1979 (age 45)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight79 kg (174 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBreaststroke
College teamUniversity of Southern California (U.S.)
CoachDave Salo (U.S.)
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing  Saudi Arabia
Islamic Solidarity Games
Gold medal – first place 2005 Jeddah 50 m breaststroke
Silver medal – second place 2005 Jeddah 100 m breaststroke
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Jeddah 200 m breaststroke

Al-Kudmani made his first all-male Saudi Arabian team, at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he competed in the men's 100 m breaststroke. Swimming in heat two, he picked up a fourth spot and fifty-sixth overall by a tenth of a second (0.10) behind Madagascar's Jean Luc Razakarivony in 1:06.07.[2]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Al-Kudmani qualified again for the men's 100 m breaststroke by receiving a Universality place from FINA in an invitation time of 1:06.07.[3] He challenged seven other swimmers on the same heat as Sydney, including his former rival Razakarivony. He blasted a Saudi Arabian record and a personal best of 1:05.65 to share a second seed with Moldova's Andrei Capitanciuc. Al-Kudmani failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed forty-seventh overall on the first day of preliminaries.[4][5]

Al-Kudmani is a former varsity swimmer for the USC Trojans, and a graduate of mechanical engineering at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He also competed at the Asian Games (2002 and 2006), but failed to medal in any of his individual events. In 2007, Al-Kudmani announced his retirement from swimming to spend time with his family and work for the seawater injection department at Saudi Aramco.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ahmad Al-Kudmani". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 100m Breaststroke Heat 2" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 239. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  3. ^ "Swimming – Men's 100m Breaststroke Startlist (Heat 2)" (PDF). Athens 2004. Omega Timing. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  4. ^ "Men's 100m Breaststroke Heat 4". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  5. ^ Whitten, Phillip (14 August 2004). "Prelims, Men's 100 Breaststroke: Kitajima, Hansen Qualify One-Two; Japanese Sets Olympic Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  6. ^ Baker, Razan (17 September 2007). "Swimmer Al-Kudmani to Retire After Arab Games". Arab News. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
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