UAE duo Yaaqoub Al Saadi and Ali Al Kaabi have flown to Italy along with the national swimming team to undergo last-minute preparations for the upcoming Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.
The pair are the first swimmers in UAE history to qualify for a major swimming event by achieving a qualification standard time and not through invitation.
Al Saadi, a backstroke specialist, had booked his qualification spot by clocking 27.71 seconds in the 50m backstroke at the Dubai International Aquatic Championships last April, while Al Kaabi joined him the following day by swimming 26.28 seconds in the 50m butterfly.
Al Saadi and Al Kaabi will fly from Italy to China for the Games looking to record new personal bests.
“We’re coming off Ramadan and of course training during that time was tough but they’ve been practicing and are in good shape,” UAE national team assistant coach Mohamed El Zanaty told Sport360°.
“It’s their first Olympics and they’re very pumped. But we have no expectations except for them to do their best and try to get PBs.
“It would be a miracle to make a final. The hope is to get PBs and improve their rankings.
“Taking part is very positive for them. To see a Youth Olympic games, qualifying is already a huge accomplishment. We’d be satisfied with PBs.”
The pair join a large group of 26 swimmers at the training camp in Lignano Sabbiadoro, where the national team will stay for three weeks to prepare for a series of important events, starting with the FINA Swimming World Cup in Dubai at end of the month.
The first team swimmers will then head to Morocco for the Arab Championships (September 4-9) followed by the GCC Championships (September 10-14) before returning for the FINA World Cup series in Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore.
“We have back-to-back events until November 1 so the upcoming period will be quite intense which is why we’ve taken a large group of swimmers to this camp in Italy,” added El Zanaty.