Manama, Bahrain, October 29, 2025: Swimming in Asia is in rude health according to Executive Director of Asia Aquatics Farid Fattahian who is overjoyed at the number of athletes competing in the pool at the 3rd Asian Youth Games in Bahrain.
A total of 39 National Olympic Committees – out of 45 – have sent 339 swimmers. Of this number 194 are boys and 145 girls, much to the satisfaction of Fattahian.
“All the countries know how important it is to develop their young swimming talent, as this is a sport which is hugely important to a country’s medal tally at major multi-sport games,” noted Fattahian. “As such it was satisfying to see the turnout for swimming in Bahrain.”
“And all credit to the organisers, the Olympic Council of Asia, and the Bahrain Olympic Committee, for putting together this event in eight months. While the new facility is not ready, the existing venue, while a bit small, is good and all the teams, athletes and coaches, are happy,” he said.
Swimming and athletics are the two marquee events at any big event like the Olympics or the Asian Games. At the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, for instance, there will be 165 gold medals on offer, making it imperative for NOCs to focus on the sport.
China as usual is leading the medal race in the pool at Khalifa Sports City, closely followed by Hong Kong, with some encouraging results from smaller nations like the United Arab Emirates and Iran who both secured a gold medal each.
“In Asia, the traditional powers are China, Korea, Japan, and in recent times Hong Kong and Singapore. The rest of Asia is working hard to reach the top, first in the continent and then in the world,” said Fattahian.
“Swimming is now attracting the attention of governments and NOCs because they know the importance of the sport at the Asian Games and the Olympics. The biggest challenge they face is infrastructure, the lack of Olympic-sized pools,” Fattahian revealed.
“Fortunately World Aquatics is helping out by building pools. The world governing body is also setting up swimming hubs in each Asian zone. These hubs will provide training camps for swimmers from lesser developed swim nations, and everything will be free of charge.
“This is one of the biggest steps taken by World Aquatics who are living up to their slogan ‘Swim for All, Swim for Life’,” said Farid, paying tribute to OCA Director General Husain Al Musallam, who is also the President of World Aquatics.
Fattahian also extolled the fact that Asia has become a destination for world swimming events.
“While educating young swimmers is crucial, providing top-quality competition for the elite is also key. In the last 13 months, we have had six major international aquatic events in Asia, and this is a huge boost to the sport in the continent,” he added.
