Two-time Senegalese Olympic swimmer Mohamed Diop was elected president of Africa Aquatics at the organization’s annual general meeting last week in Luanda, Angola.
Diop, 59, represented Senegal at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and Barcelona Olympics in 1992. In 2021, he became secretary general of Africa Aquatics as well as a member of the World Aquatics (then FINA) Bureau. He has previously served as president of the Senegalese Swimming Federation and vice president of Africa Aquatics back when it was still known as CANA.
“I am deeply honored to have been chosen as the president of Africa Aquatics,” Diop said. “I am committed to working tirelessly to foster growth, excellence, and accessibility within our aquatic community. Together, we will strive to create opportunities for all, from the grassroots level to the highest echelons of competition.”
Diop started swimming at age 6 and began competing at 9 years old. At age 15, he began a 20-year career swimming for the Senegalese national team, highlighted by a bronze medal in the 50-meter freestyle at the 1987 African Games in Nairobi, Kenya. It was the first of four African Games in which Diop competed.
According to Openwaterpedia, Diop won the 1986 Traversee Dakar, a 5.2-kilometer open-water swim from Dakar to Goree in Senegal. After his competitive career ended in 1999, he remained involved in masters swimming and was appointed to World Aquatics’ masters committee in 2021.
“I reached 24.39 in the 50m freestyle in 1986 and 54.23 in the 100m freestyle in 1989,” Diop told World Aquatics in 2009. “Last year, I could swim 25.90 and 57.20.”
The previous president of Africa Aquatics was South Africa’s Sam Ramsamy, who served 12 years since his election in 2012.
Thought he was going to be a Mountaineer