Fukuoka 2023, Day 7 Africa Recap – Osman Showing Same Consistency as Sjostrom

2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sarah Sjostrom has been the modicum of consistency across the 50 fly. To be able to win five successive World Championships gold medals in an event where the difference between 1st and 8th hovers around one second. True, it doesn’t hurt to be the only swimmer in the history of the event to have broken 25 seconds, but it is a remarkable feat in and amongst itself.

What is lost in this is the presence of Farida Osman. The Egyptian sprinter has finaled in every one of Sjostrom’s five gold medal performances. In fact, Osman made the final in 2013, when Jeanette Ottesen won gold (Sjostrom did not contest the 50 fly in Barcelona).

Six straight finals at a World Championships is a remarkable feat and it’s not as if she is scrapping in to the finals.

  • 2013: 7th – 26.17
  • 2015: 5th – 25.78 *African Record
  • 2017: 3rd – 25.39 *African Record
  • 2019: 3rd – 25.47
  • 2022: 4th – 25.38 *African Record
  • 2023: 4th – 25.62

Osman, also the African Record holder in the 50 free, has been at the forefront of Egyptian swimming on the world stage. Her two bronze medals represent the only pool swimming medals that the nation has won. She also owns two of the three total medals across all sports at the World Championships. The only other medal Egypt has won was a bronze medal in 25k open water race at the 2007 Melbourne World Championships.

While Osman was off of her African record in the 50 fly, the South African quartet of Clayton Jimmie, Aimee Canny, Roland Schoeman, and Rebecca Meder set a new continental benchmark time in the Mixed Free Relay, surpassing the former record 3:31.24 set by the South Africans in 2019

Comparison of former and current African Records in mixed 4×100 free relay

2019 African Games (former record) 2023 World Champs (new record)
Douglas Erasmus, 50.42 Clayton Jimmie, 50.04
Ryan Coetzee, 49.74 Aimee Canny, 54.48
Emma Chelius, 55.87 Roland Schoeman, 50.48
Erin Gallagher, 55.21 Rebecca Meder, 55.06
3:31.24 3:30.16

The difference maker between the two times is the emergence of Aimee Canny. Canny, who has a personal best of 54.60, swims collegiately for Virginia where she was won bronze in the 200yd freestyle and was part of the NCAA winning 4×200 free relay and 4×100 medley relay.

National/Continental Records Through Day 7:

  • Benin
    • Marc Dansou – men’s 50 free, 25.16
    • Nafissath Radji – women’s 50 free, 29.81
  •  Cameroon
    • Giorgio Nguichie Kamseu Kamogne – men’s 50 fly, 29.93
    • Hugo Nguiche – men’s 100 free, 1:03.00
    • Giorgio Nguichie Kamseu Kamogne – men’s 50 back, 33.75
    • Estelle Nguelo’o Noubissi – women’s 50 breast, 43.59
  • Cape Verde
    • Jayla Pina – women’s 100 breast, 1:14.09
    • Jayla Pina – women’s 200 breast, 2:41.75
    • Troy Pina – men’s 50 back, 30.85
    • Mixed Medley relay, 4:37.00
    • Mixed Free relay, 4:07.35
  • Comoros
    • Maesha Saadi – women’s 50 free, 33.05
  •  Djibouti
    • Houmed Houssein – men’s 50 free – 26.76
  •  Egypt
  • Guinea
    • Fode Amara Camara – men’s 50 fly, 28.42
    • Fode Amara Camara – men’s 50 breast, 33.42
    • Mariama Toure – women’s 100 breast, 1:35.41
    • Mariama Toure – women’s 50 breast, 41.81
  • Guinea-Bissau
    • Pedro Rogery – men’s 100 free, 1:18.28
  • Kenya* (swimming as Suspended Member Federation)
    • Mixed Free relay, 3:42.58
  •  Lesotho
    • Refiloe Chopo – men’s 50 fly, 34.21
    • Refiloe Chopo – men’s 50 free, 31.68
  • Malawi
    • Mixed Free relay, 4:17.43
  • Mauritius
    • Anishta Teeluck – women’s 200 back, 2:18.63
    • Timothy Lebert – men’s 1500 free, 16:27.67
  •  Namibia
    • Xander Skinner – men’s 100 free, 50.00
    • Xander Skinner – men’s 50 free, 22.78
  • Niger
    • Salima Ahmadou Youssoufou – women’s 50 breast, 45.97
  • Nigeria
    • Colins Obi Ebingha – men’s 50 free, 23.54
    • Mixed Free relay, 3:48.83
  • Rwanda
    • Cedrick Niyibizi – men’s 100 free, 55.87
    • Cedrick Niyibuzi – men’s 50 free, 25.28
  • Senegal
    • Steven Aimable – men’s 100 fly, 53.98
  • South Africa
    • Rebecca Meder – women’s 200m IM, 2:10.95
    • Mixed Free relay, 3:30.16 *African Record
  • Sudan
    • Rana Saadeldin – women’s 50 back, 36.32
    • Rana Saadeldin – women’s 100 free, 1:08.38
    • Ziyad Saleem – men’s 200 back, 2:00.52
  • Tanzania
    • Sophia Latiff – women’s 50 free, 28.34
    • Mixed Medley relay, 4:37.35
  • The Gambia
    • Aminata Burrow – women’s 100 breast- 1:14.32
    • Aminata Burrow – women’s 200 breast – 2:37.01
  • Tunisia
  • Uganda
  • Zambia
    • Mia Phiri – women’s 50 back, 30.17
    • Mia Phiri – women’s 50 free, 26.86
  • Zimbabwe

Medal Table (Africa) Through Day 6:

Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
=1 Tunisia 1 1 2
South Africa 1 1 2

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