FINA Announces Next 36 Athletes for Scholarship Program

FINA has announced the class of 36 new athletes who will participate in the FINA Scholarship program in the new Olympic cycle, which will include 6 to 12 months of training. The program is designed to provide athletes from less-renowned nations higher levels of training to help them qualify for major meets – with the latest target being the FINA World Championships from July 15th-30th in Budapest, Hungary.

The latest class of 36 athletes come from 35 different countries with the British Virgin Islands getting two into the program – siblings Amarah and Elinah Philip. Athletes have the option to train within their national federation programs in cases where FINA has approved them, or go to one of the official FINA training centers in either Thamyapura (Thailand) or the Spire Institute (Geneva, Ohio, United States).

FINA awarded “almost 50 scholarships” in the run-up to Rio after the program was launched in May of 2015. Among the tales of success of the program are more than 50 national records broken. Khader Bagalah from Jordan became the first Jordanian swimmer to achieve a qualifying time for the Olympic Games in the 200 free, and he’s now a freshman at the University of Florida where he’s already qualified for the NCAA Championships in his rookie season.

Marcelo Acosta is another success story – last year he became the first El Salvadorian in history with an Olympic “A” cut, making history in his country as well. He too, as a sophomore, has qualified for this year’s NCAA Championships swimming for the University of Louisville. He has the 3rd-fastest 1650 free in the country this season.

35 of the 36 eligible athletes are listed below. Sierra Leone has yet to name their recipient.