KARACHI: The wait was finally over for Sindh’s aspiring swimmers.

After a layoff of three years, they finally got to showcase and test their skills as the 59th Sindh Open Boys Swimming Championship flagged off on Saturday at the Karachi Gymkhana and the two-day event ended with a whopping 29 records being broken.

Among those, 21 came in individual events with the rest in the relays all broken by Karachi Grammar School.

Syed Azlan Sohail of KGS was the breakout star, smashing records in the 200m and 400m free as well as the 100m and the 200m fly of the under-14 category.

“My dream is to participate and win a medal in the Olympics,” said Azlan, who counts Caeleb Dressel as his inspiration, told Dawn. “We need to work hard to reach that level but also better facilities such as bigger pools and better diving stands to excel.”

Mikhail Azfar Mir was also in the list of record breakers as he triumphed in the 100m and 50m breaststroke as well as the 100m butterfly in the under-12 category.

Ali Mitha of KGS had a remarkable event in the under-16 category as he made four new records — in the 50m and 100m back, 50m free and the open.

His school-mate Daniyal Alvi swept the backstroke in the under-14 category, setting records over all three distances.

DHA Moin Khan Club’s Hamza Anwar also set three records in the under-14 contests — 50m and 100m free and the 50m breaststroke.

Subhan Ahmed of Wahaj Hussain’s school system, showed great heart and broke the 400m freestyle record finishing in 4:34.72 in the under-16 category.

Despite the records being broken, the question still remains of what’s next for the up and coming talent.

Sindh Swimming Association (SSA) president Shoaib Savul said he hopes that the Pakistan Swimming Federation organises more events like these and coordinate with the SSA.

“It’s unfortunate that we get absolutely no support from the federation, it’s just because of the good corporate [sector] that we are able to organise events like these, otherwise it would be impossible.” Shoaib told reporters. “I hope these corporations continue to support like this but the government should do its due share in making these events happen all across Pakistan.”

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2022