arena Swim of the Week: Abdelrahman Elaraby Breaks Super-Suited African Record In 50 Fly

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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

Former Louisville Cardinal and Notre Dame Fighting Irish Abdelrahman Elaraby did what every swimmer tries to do in the five-round skins “speed tournament” at the opening leg of the Mare Nostrum Tour in Monaco: get faster each round and win the final in record fashion.

The 25-year-old came into the competition as one of the 33 men in history who have broken 23 seconds in the LCM 50 fly, having clocked 22.94 at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka to set a new Egyptian Record and come within four one-hundredths of Roland Schoeman‘s longstanding super-suited African Record of 22.90 set in 2009.

In Monaco, Elaraby kicked things off by clocking 23.46 in the prelims, and then he progressively got faster in each round, culminating with a time of 22.80 in the final.

Elaraby’s Monaco 50 Fly Skins Progression:

• Heats – 23.46
• 1/8 Final – 23.42
• Quarterfinal – 23.03
• Semi-final – 23.00
• Final – 22.80

That swim in the final, which earned him the victory head-to-head over Russia’s Oleg Kostin (22.85), broke Schoeman’s African Record and also erased Elaraby’s own Egyptian Record.

It moves Elaraby up into a tie for 16th all-time in the event.

All-Time Performers, Men’s 50 Butterfly (LCM)

1. Andrii Govorov (UKR), 22.27 – 2018
2. Caeleb Dressel (USA), 22.35 – 2019
3. Rafael Munoz (ESP), 22.43 – 2009
4. Nicholas Santos (BRA), 22.60 – 2019
5. Oleg Kostin (RUS), 22.62 – 2023
6. Noe Ponti (SUI), 22.65 – 2024
7. Milorad Cavic (SRB), 22.67 – 2009
8. Thomas Ceccon (ITA), 22.68 – 2023
9. Henrique Martins (BRA), 22.70 – 2017
10. Maxime Grousset (FRA), 22.72 – 2023
11. Matt Targett (AUS), 22.73 – 2009
12. Ben Proud (GBR), 22.75 – 2017
13. Cesar Cielo (BRA), 22.76 – 2012
14. Michael Andrew (USA) / Dare Rose (USA), 22.79 – 2022 / 2023
15. –
16. Diogo Ribeiro (POR) / Abdelrahman Elaraby (EGY), 22.80 – 2023 / 2025
17. –
18. Fred Bousquet (FRA) / Florent Manaudou (FRA) / Jacob Peters (GBR), 22.84 – 2009 / 2015 / 2023
19. –
20. –

 

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A post shared by Abdelrahman Elaraby (@haridiiii)

Elaraby wrapped up his collegiate career in March 2024, placing 4th in the men’s 50 free and 5th in the 100 fly at the ACC Championships while competing for Notre Dame, having transferred there for his graduate senior season.

In May 2022, after finishing as the ACC runner-up in the 50 free and then withdrawing from the NCAA Championships, Elaraby shared that he had been suffering from depression and had made a suicide attempt. He returned to competition that summer, representing Egypt at the World Championships in Budapest, and in 2023, won the ACC title in the 50 free.

At the 2023 Worlds in Fukuoka, he placed 8th in the 50 fly final after setting what is now his former best time of 22.94 in the semis.

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