Sidibari
Maldivian swimmers Meral Ayn Latheef, 16, and Amna Thazkiya Mirsaad, 14, have broken national long-course records at the 22nd World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
Meral Ayn Latheef – 200m Individual Medley
Meral first set the national record in the women’s 200m individual medley at the Devon County Championships in the UK earlier this year, when she was 15 years and 8 months old, clocking 2:45.93. Now, at 16 years and 1 month, she has lowered that time to 2:44.34 at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. It is an improvement of 1.59 seconds.
With this result, Meral now holds four individual long-course national records: 100m and 200m butterfly, and 200m and 400m individual medley.
Amna Thazkiya Mirsaad – 100m Backstroke
Amna, at 14 years and 5 months old, set a new national mark in the women’s 100m backstroke with a time of 1:13.49, breaking the previous record of 1:18.17 held by Hamna Ahmed. The improvement is a significant 4.68 seconds. Hamna’s record had stood for about 15 months, since April 2024 at the MILO/MAS Malaysia Invitational Age Group Championship.
Amna previously held the national record in the 200m backstroke, before Hamna reclaimed it at the 127th Hungarian National Championships in late 2024.
Amna and Meral are two of the four national swimmers competing at World Aquatics – the biggest swimming championship in the world. The two male athletes competing in the championship are Mohamed Rihan Shiham and Aan Hussain.
These new results mark another step forward for Maldivian swimmers competing on the international stage.
