Ten-year-old races at world championships

Bahrain is far from a powerhouse in the world of swimming, but the country will have at least one record under its belt at the world championships in Russian Federation. We have a 50m and a 25m pool in Bahrain.

Her father, Salem, has backed her career from the start and said before the event that, “the World Championships will be an unforgettable experience for her”.

Despite failing to qualify, she said: “I’m happy, I feel so happy”.

Her father is a former professional swimmer and has encouraged his daughter, who trains twice a day, five days a week, either side of her school studies.

“For a 10-year-old to be able to put into perspective her own goals at this meet is really cool”, Coventry said.

“We have about 20 girls who swim, but there are more than 20 boys”.

Unfortunately she was unable to beat her personal record as she came home in a time of 41.13secs.

“I don’t know what to make of it – she’s dinky (tiny)”.

“I met Sarah from Sweden, I spoke to her and asked if I could take my picture with her and she told me “good luck”, she said.

All four rivals in Tareq’s opening heat have swum almost 10s faster and her young age has drawn concerns in Kazan, where she is sure to get a lot of media attention when she races.

“She said, ‘Look, these are my idols”.

“I got in her warm down lane the other day because I wanted to be friends with her, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to her”, she said.

Tareq returns on Saturday to compete in the 50 freestyle, an event dominated by another of her idols, Cate Campbell of Australia.

“I am the fastest swimmer in Bahrain and so they chose me, but there are younger swimmers there, they are eight years old”.

“I want to learn the techniques and how they swim”, she said.

Plymouth-based breaststroker Ruta Meilutyte and United States freestyle-specialist Katie Ledecky both won Olympic titles aged just 15 at the 2012 London Games.

Germany’s former world champion Franziska van Almisick, a child prodigy in the early 1990s, qualified for the 1991 world championships when she was just 13.

In a short statement FINA, the governing body of the meet, said: “rules are rules and there is no age limit for competitors”.