Hilal granted scholarship by world body, off to Thailand

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s swimming sensation Hilal Hemed Hilal is a beneficiary of a year-long training scholarship from the world swimming body, Fina.

Hilal, who put up decent performance at the 2016 Olympics Games in Brazil, will receive further swimming training at Thailand’s renowned centre, Thanyapura, which is located in Phuket.

The 22-year-old departed for the Phuket Province yesterday exuding confidence that he would come back a better swimmer.

“I am delighted to have this opportunity. I hope that I will come back a better swimmer,” said Hilal before his departure.

Tanzania Swimming Association (TSA) secretary Ramadhani Namkoveka congratulated the fast-rising swimmer, disclosing that Fina considered him following his impressive showing at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“He did very well in the heats during last year’s Olympics. He managed to beat the Fina’s qualifying time for scholarships, which is 24.05 seconds. We are proud of him, but we urge him to go and work harder,” said the TSA official.

Namkoveka disclosed that Hilal would be given another year at the centre should he show improvement.

“He may have an additional year at the centre depending on how he makes progress. We wish him the best of luck in his training,” the official said.

This, according Namkoveka, is the first time in history that a Tanzanian swimmer has benefitted from the Fina scholarship.

“We have a few swimmers who train abroad under scholarships of different schools and colleges. Hilal’s Fina scholarship is the first in the country’s swimming history, so we have a reason to cheer,” he said.

Namkoveka added that they were planning to send as many young swimmers as possible to renowned swimming schools and colleges overseas.

Currently, Tanzania has Sonia Tumiotto, Collins Saliboko, Anjani Taylor, Smriti Gokarn and Aliasgar Karimjee who study and train at St Felix School of the UK.