Ahmed Jaouadi Steps Into Tunisia’s Distance Dynasty

Nineteen-year-old Ahmed Jaouadi earned his first major international medal last night, outracing veteran Florian Wellbrock for the 1500 gold in 14:16.40. With this medal, Jaouadi further cements himself in a legacy of Tunisian distance freestyle excellence.

The North African country now boasts three world champions in the 1500. Oussama Mellouli was the first, claiming 1500 golds at the 2009 (long course) and 2010 (short course) World Championships. Mellouli is best known as the first African man to win an individual swimming gold in the 1500 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Four years later, he notched a second Olympic gold in the 10km open water event while earning bronze in the 1500.

Flash forward nearly a decade later and Mellouli’s country-mate Ahmed Hafnaoui burst onto the international scene. At the Tokyo Olympics, the then-18-year-old shocked the world by winning the 400 freestyle from an outside lane. He became a distance swimming staple for the next quad, picking up the 800-1500 double title at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka.

Hafnaoui was recently suspended for missing three random doping tests in the past year.

This year, a new star was born in Tunisian distance swimming. Jaouadi already had international credibility thanks to his double final appearances in the distance events at the Paris 2024 Olympics. However, with a gold and eight-second time drop last night, the Tunisian makes himself the man to beat going forward. He’s seeded 2nd in the 800 free later in the meet with his time of 7:33.84, less than a second behind Swede Victor Johansson. He’s also entered in the 400 free, where he’s seeded 5th with a time of 3:38.74.

Hafnaoui and Jaouadi currently train in France under Philippe Lucas. Lucas has two decades of mentoring distance swimmers to gold, including Laure Manaudou, Sharon von Rouwendaal, and Aurelie Muller.