(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) More than 300 battle in 25m and 50m distance races and exhibited the four main strokes.
Youngsters compete at the Hamdan Sports Complex in Dubai on Saturday. hoto by Mukesh Kamal/ Khaleej Times
Dubai: More than 300 ambitious youngsters from across the UAE dove head first into the Arena Development Swimming Gala at the Hamdan Sports Complex here on Saturday.
Boys and girls aged between seven and 12 represented their respective clubs and schools at the packed meet where they competed over 25m and 50m distances and exhibited the four main strokes.
With two outright winners (one boy and one girl) from each of the six age groups as well a dozen children will now get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet South African superstar Chad Le Clos at a special prize-giving ceremony at Atlantis The Palm.
Olympic champion Le Clos’ involvement in this initiative certainly will have helped swell the numbers in attendance above those expected on the day itself and the UAE Swimming Federation (UAESF) hope to roll out more such grassroots-level events in the future.
“This is the first time we’ve done something like this in conjunction with our partners Arena” explained Sarra Lajnef the UAESF’s administrative coordinator and team manager.
“We aim to develop and promote swimming within the UAE and that’s why we’re doing this kind of event.
“We want to get even more Emirati and expatriate kids interested in swimming and just give them the opportunity to come and swim have fun and enjoy the event.
“We have 300-plus kids here which we weren’t quite expecting and that represents a good response to our invitations. It has been successful. It’s something big for the kids to be able to meet Chad Le Clos. It will be inspiring for them and hopefully spurs them on to pursue swimming professionally just like Chad Le Clos has done. We’re planning to do three editions in 2015 spread out during the year. Hopefully it will get progressively bigger from here on in and we’ll have more and more kids every time.”
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