Ali Thameem
Amna Thazkiya Mirsaadh, the teenage swimming sensation, has recently claimed women’s long-course national records in three different strokes, and shortened the timing of two more.
With ten different national records to her name – eight in the long pool and two in the short pool – Thazkiya currently holds more individual national records than any other Maldivian swimmer.
Earlier this year, Thazkiya competed in a tournament in Thailand – the Asian Open Schools Invitational – where she represented Maldives Lifeguards Association. The new records she claimed were in the 50m Free – previously held by Aishath Ulya Shaig – and the 200m Medley and the 100m Butterfly – previously held by Meran Ayn Latheef.
The 50m Freestyle
The most remarkable of Thazkiya’s new national records was at the 50m freestyle event. The stroke, which is basically one glide across the length of the 50-meter pool, is considered the swimming equivalent of what the 100m sprint is to runners.
The 50m Freestyle national record had been held by Ulya for over two years. Prior to Ulya achieving the record (World Aquatics 2024, Doha), the stroke’s national best had remained stagnant for seventeen years. The 50m Free is also the stroke in which Ulya competed at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Thazkiya claimed the record in the finals of this year’s AOSI in Thailand, finishing first in her age group with 28.49 seconds on the clock.
To put the improvements in the women’s 50m Freestyle national record to context, the stroke’s best timing have been improved by almost a whole second (980 milliseconds) since February of 2024.
Other Records
The women’s 200m Individual Medley national record was previously held by Meral Ayn Latheef at last year’s World Aquartics Championships in Singapore. With Thazkiya’s timing of 02:39.86 in Thailand, is an impressive 2.60 seconds shorter than Meral’s record.
The 100m butterfly’s national record was previously kept by Meral as well. In the finals in Thailand, Thazkiya clocked a 1:12.28 to win gold medal in the U-15 category. The 100m Butterfly’s national best is now 0.68 seconds shorter than it was when Meral broke it five months ago.
Thazkiya went on to shorten two more national bests – the 50m Butterfly and the 100m Free. Both these records had been kept by Thazkiya herself prior to the tournament.
Thazkiya went on to earn the most points in her age group at the tournament, winning five gold medals and a silver.
In addition to these five strokes, Thazkiya has five other national records to her name
100m Backstroke – LC
50m Backstroke – LC
200m Backstroke – LC
100m Freestyle – SC
200m Freestyle – SC
With her name on individual national records in the eight different strokes in the long pool and two in the short pool, Amna Thazkiya Mirsaadh now holds the most national records of any swimmer in the Maldives – male or female.
