Farida Hisham Osman (Arabic: فريدة هشام عثمان; born 18 January 1995) is an Egyptian competitive swimmer who specializes in butterfly and freestyle events. She is an All-Africa Games gold medalist and Egyptian national champion and record-holder. Osman is the fastest female swimmer in Egypt and Africa, she is currently coached by Teri McKeever.[4] Osman holds the senior national records for all the butterfly, freestyle and backstroke events,[5] as well as African records in the 50m and 100m butterfly.[6]

Farida Osman
Osman in 2008
Personal information
Full nameFarida Hisham Osman
National teamEgypt
Born (1995-01-18) 18 January 1995 (age 29)
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Height1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight58 kg (128 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesButterfly, freestyle
ClubGezira Sporting Club
College teamUniversity of California, Berkeley
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing  Egypt
World Championships (LC)
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Budapest 50 m butterfly
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Gwangju 50 m butterfly
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Doha 50 m butterfly
All-Africa Games
Gold medal – first place 2011 Maputo 50m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2015 Brazzaville 50 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2015 Brazzaville 100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2015 Brazzaville 50 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2015 Brazzaville 100 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2015 Brazzaville 4×100 m mixed medley
Silver medal – second place 2015 Brazzaville 4×100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2015 Brazzaville 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 2015 Brazzaville 4×100 m mixed freestyle
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 2013 Mersin 50 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2018 Tarragona 50 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2018 Tarragona 50 m butterfly
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Lima[1] 50 m butterfly
African Championships
Gold medal – first place 2010 Casablanca[2] 50m fly
Silver medal – second place 2010 Casablanca 50m free
Silver medal – second place 2010 Casablanca 4x100m free relay
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Casablanca 100m fly
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Casablanca 50m back
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Casablanca 4x100m medley relay
Junior African Championship
Gold medal – first place 2009 Mauritius[3] 50m fly
Gold medal – first place 2009 Mauritius[3] 50m Free
Gold medal – first place 2009 Mauritius[3] 50m Back
Silver medal – second place 2009 Mauritius 100m Fly
Silver medal – second place 2009 Mauritius 4x100m Free Relay
Silver medal – second place 2009 Mauritius 4x100m Medley Relay
Silver medal – second place 2009 Mauritius 4x200m Free Relay
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Mauritius 100m Free
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Mauritius 100m Back

Early life

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Daughter to dentists Hisham Osman and Randa Elsalawy, Osman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1995, and raised in Cairo, Egypt.[7] She started swimming at the age of five at the Gezira Sporting Club with her brother Ahmed. Osman started at the Oasis French School in Cairo but then transitioned to the French Embassy's Lycée Français du Caire. She studied at the Cairo American College.

Career

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Osman took a break from swimming to pursue her synchronized swimming passion. At the age of 11, she returned to swimming and won all the 50m and 100m freestyle and butterfly national titles, earning the "Best Swimmer" trophy. At the age of 12, she was selected to represent Egypt at the 11th Pan Arab Games in Cairo, Egypt. She was the youngest athlete on the team and participated in the 50m, 100m freestyle, and the 50m and 100m butterfly. Osman broke the Arab record for the 50m butterfly, where she became the youngest Egyptian and Arab athlete ever to win the event and break the record. She finished 6th in the 100m butterfly.

 
Kazan 2015

The same year she competed at the All Africa Games and finished fifth in the 50m butterfly with a time of 28.95.[8]

Osman continued her career by participating in various international competitions, such as the International Sindlefingen Swimming Competition (ISSC), where she competed in all sprint events in backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle.[9] She received the 2nd-place trophy for best sprinters in the competition.

At 13, Osman traveled to the United States for a summer camp, where she swam for the Bear Swimming Team in Berkeley, California. She participated in various competitions such as RESLs, Junior Olympics, Sectionals, and Far Westerns[10] where she was in the top 10 places of her year group.

Major achievements

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3rd FINA Junior World Championship, Lima, Peru

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At the 3rd FINA FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, held in Lima, Peru, Osman was one of the biggest surprised at the competition. In a world junior championship record time of 26.69, she became the world junior champion in the 50m butterfly, placing Egypt 11th on the medalists charts, the highest rank any African or Arab nation has reached in a long time.[11] In the 100m butterfly, Osman placed 15th with a time of 1:02.18.[12]

13th FINA World Championship, Rome, Italy

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At the 13th FINA 2009 World Aquatic Championships, held in Roma, Italy, Osman was among the youngest swimmers at the competition. She placed 66th in the 50m Freestyle, clocking 26.77.[13] She also placed 50th in the 50m Butterfly with a time of 27.78,[14] making her the fastest swimmer in the world for her age group. Moreover, she placed 87th in the 100m free (59.45)[15] and 64th in the 100m butterfly (1.03.21).[16]

8th Junior African Championship, Mauritius

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Shortly after the world championships, Osman went to Mauritius to represent Egypt at the 8th Junior African Championship. She placed 1st in the 50m freestyle, setting a new Junior African record with a time of 26.36.[17] Similarly, in the 50m Butterfly, her strongest event, she broke another Junior African record with a time of 27.60.[18] Dominating in the sprinting events, Osman also won the gold medal in the 50m backstroke with a record time of 31.04.[19] In her remaining events, Osman won the silver medal in the 100m butterfly with a time of 1:03.16, finishing second to South Africa's Vanessa Mohr. In both the 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke, Osman finished 3rd place.[20]

2012 Summer Olympics

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At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, Osman represented Egypt in the 50m freestyle event beside her teammate Shehab Younis. Osman finished 42nd with a time of 26.34.[21]

2013 World Aquatics Championships

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Osman competed in four events at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain. On the first day, Osman competed in the 100m butterfly, finishing 24th with a time of 59.85s.[22] On the fifth day of competition, she swam the 100m freestyle while finishing 40th with a 56.84s.[23] On the sixth day of competition, Osman finished 11th in the heats of her signature event, 50m butterfly, while advancing to the semi-finals and finishing with a new African Record of 26.12s.[24] Osman is the first Egyptian to qualify for a final at the World Aquatics Championships in Egyptian history. On 3 August 2013, Osman finished 7th in the women's 50m butterfly final with a time of 26.17s respectively for Egypt.[25] This is the best ranking ever by an Egyptian pool swimmer in a major international competition.

2017 FINA World Championships

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At the 2017 FINA World Championships, Osman competed for Egypt and won the bronze model in the 50m butterfly event with the new African record of 25.39s.[26] In the 50m freestyle event, she also set a new African record at 24.62s, which gave her the 9th place.[27]

2017 NCAA Swimming Championships

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At the 2017 NCAA championships, Osman won first place in 100 Yard butterfly. She also won first place in the 200 Yard freestyle relay and the 200 Yard medley relay, which she anchored both. She won third place in the 400 Yard freestyle relay.

2018 Mediterranean Games

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At the 2018 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, Spain, Osman competed for Egypt in four events and won three medals, two gold and one silver.[28] In the 50m freestyle, Osman won the gold medal with the new Mediterranean Game record of 24.83s.[29] Osman won the gold medal in the 50m butterfly, with the new Mediterranean Game record of 25.48s.[30] In the 100m butterfly, Osman won the silver medal with a time of 58.51s.[31] In the 100m freestyle, Osman qualified but did not compete in the finals. She was the fourth most successful individual athlete at the Games.[32]

Personal bests

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Long course
Event Time Meet Name Meet City Meet Country Date Note(s)
50m freestyle 24.62 2017 FINA World Championships Budapest   Hungary 29 July 2017 NR, AF
100m freestyle 54.93 2019 FINA World Championships Gwangju   South Korea 25 July 2019 NR
50m butterfly 25.38 2022 FINA World Championships Budapest   Hungary 24 June 2022 NR,AF
100m butterfly 57.66 2022 FINA World Championships Budapest   Hungary 19 June 2022 NR
50m backstroke 30.25 Arab Games Doha   Qatar 19 December 2011 NR

Awards and honours

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She was named the Best Female Athlete from Africa by the Association Of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) in 2017.[33]

She was awarded the Mohamed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum Creative Sport Award for Distinguished Athlete Achievement in Sport in 2017.[34]

She won the African Female Swimmer of the Year title in Swimswam.com's Swammy Awards in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017.[35][36]

She was selected as the 2017 Female African Swimmer of the Year by the Swimming World magazine.[37]

She was the recipient of the Tom Hansen Medal as the top female athlete for the 2016/17 season at the University of California Berkeley.[38]

She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2019.[39]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 3rd FINA World Juniors – Lima, Peru – Single Meet License 3rd. FINA World Junior Swimming Championships – 8/16/2011 to 8/21/20. championships.coloradotime.com
  2. ^ "10th African Swimming Championships Results". Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
  3. ^ a b c "9th Junior African Swimming Championships Results". Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  4. ^ "Cal swim star Farida Osman going to Rio — for Egypt". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Egyptian Swimming Records" (PDF) (in Arabic). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2010.
  6. ^ "Farida Osman Earns Egypts First Ever Swimming World Champs Medal". SwimSwam. 29 July 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  7. ^ "Farida Osman Bio – SwimSwam". SwimSwam. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  8. ^ "All Africa Games Day 2". Archived from the original on 2 May 2007.
  9. ^ by GeoLogix AG, Switzerland. Swim Rankings. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  10. ^ Resl Championships 2008 – Women's 50yd Freestyle. Swimming Times. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  11. ^ Lima 2011, Day 6: Great success: 42 Championships Records and 19 nations with medals Archived 9 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. FINA.org. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  12. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ "OMEGA Sports Live Timekeeping, Official Olympics Games Timekeeper" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2009.
  14. ^ "OMEGA Sports Live Timekeeping, Official Olympics Games Timekeeper" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2009.
  15. ^ "OMEGA Sports Live Timekeeping, Official Olympics Games Timekeeper" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2009.
  16. ^ "OMEGA Sports Live Timekeeping, Official Olympics Games Timekeeper" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2009.
  17. ^ 8th JUNIOR AFRICAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS – Results list Archived 4 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Orange.mu (24 October 2009). Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  18. ^ 8th JUNIOR AFRICAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS – Results list Archived 4 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Orange.mu (24 October 2009). Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  19. ^ 8th JUNIOR AFRICAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS – Results list Archived 15 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Orange.mu (23 October 2009). Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  20. ^ 8th JUNIOR AFRICAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS – Results list Archived 15 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Orange.mu (22 October 2009). Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  21. ^ Farida Osman. sports-reference.com
  22. ^ Women's 100m Butterfly. 15th FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. 28 July 2013. omegatiming.com
  23. ^ Women's 100m Freestyle. 15th FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. 1 August 2013. omegatiming.com
  24. ^ Women's 50m Butterfly. 15th FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. 2 August 2013. omegatiming.com
  25. ^ Women's 50m Butterfly. 15th FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. 3 August 2013. omegatiming.com
  26. ^ "2017 FINA WC 50m butterfly event results". fina.org. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  27. ^ "2017 FINA WC 50m freestyle event". fina.org. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  28. ^ "Tarragona 2018 athlete profile Farida Osman". results.tarragona2018.cat. Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  29. ^ "Tarragona 2018 Women 50m free style event". results.tarragona2018.cat. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  30. ^ "Tarragona 2018 Women 50m butterfly event". results.tarragona2018.cat. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  31. ^ "Tarragona 2018 Women 100m butterfly event". results.tarragona2018.cat. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  32. ^ "Tarragona 2018 Multi-Medalists". results.tarragona2018.cat. Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  33. ^ "Egyptian Swimmer Farida Osman named Best African Female Athlete of 2017 – Egypt Independent". Egypt Independent. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  34. ^ "Nahyan and Omar win Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Awards". khaleejtimes.com. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  35. ^ "2017 Swammy Awards: African Female Swimmer of the Year Farida Osman". SwimSwam. 22 December 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  36. ^ "2016 Swammy Awards: Africa Female Swimmer of the Year Farida Osman". SwimSwam. 27 December 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  37. ^ "Swimming World Magazine Announces 2017 African Swimmers of the Year – Swimming World News". Swimming World News. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  38. ^ "Farida Osman wins the Tom Hansen Medal for top Cal female athlete!". California Golden Blogs. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  39. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2019: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
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