Youssef Said (he has also competed as Youssef Abdallah and Abdalla), from the United Arab Emirates, has given his verbal commitment to swim for the University of Georgia men’s team as part of the Class of 2021.
Georgia announced Youssef’s commitment via their Twitter account:
Welcome to the @UGASwimDive family, Youssef Said! pic.twitter.com/e8HUJwG943
— Georgia Swim & Dive (@UGASwimDive) November 18, 2016
Youssef attends The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He holds Egyptian and Arab backstroke records. His Egyptian record in the 100-meter backstroke is 54.93.
As a 16-year-old, Youssef finaled in both the 50 meter (25.55) and 100 meter (55.76) backstroke at the 2014 FINA World Cup. A year later, at the 2015 FINA Junior World Championships, he finished fourth in the 50-meter (25.63) backstroke and seventh in the 100-meter (55.24) backstroke.
While Youssef does not solve Georgia’s perennial breaststroke deficiency, especially with the upcoming graduation of current senior Chase Kalisz, he will certainly strengthen their backstroke corps. Current senior Taylor Dale, who is the school record-holder in the 100 yard backstroke (45.13), will graduate at the end of this season, but Georgia has already recruited Canadian Olympian Javier Acevedo to soften the blow.
Not only does Yousseff combine with Acevedo to mitigate the loss of Dale, but he also allows Georgia to move Acevedo to the freestyle leg if needed to bolster future medley relays.
Youssef joins Camden Murphy, Tal Davis, Aaron Apel, Greg Reed, Teagan Cheney, Joshua Fulcher, Cade Anderson and diver Zach Allen as new additions to the Georgia men’s swimming and diving program.
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