Farhan Farhan is Bahrain’s fastest ever swimmer.
My name is Farhan, I am from Bahrain.
I am a swimmer in the Bahrain swimming team.
I swim freestyle.
In the Middle East and North Africa,
the next generation of athletes rise.
An elite force, exceeding expectation...
..to reach gold.
These are their stories...
..through their eyes.
Farhan’s ultimate aim is to qualify for the Olympic Games
100 metre freestyle event.
Considered the zenith of all aquatic sports,
it’s a race that attracts superstars
of the swimming world.
Sprinted from start to finish,
swimmers possess perfect technique
and they must glide through every metre of water
in less than two seconds to reach gold.
I am training for the next championship
to qualify for the Olympics.
Since he was 12,
Bahrain’s Swimming Association have provided
his family with funding, to help
realise his Olympic Games potential.
The Federation supports us for everything
but if you don't help them, they won't support you.
If you aren't doing well, they will drop you.
In two days' time he must qualify for the games
or he’ll lose his funding
and his swimming career could reach its end.
Supporting Farhan is his identical twin brother, Faraj.
Training partners since they were boys,
his brother understands
the immense pressure that Farhan must
overcome to succeed.
Bahrain’s national swimming coach
is Alexander Carballiov.
This Sunday, we go to the Dubai International Competition
and our target is to try to come close
to qualification for the Olympic Games.
He’s focused on shaving five seconds off
Farhan’s personal best.
The 100 metre freestyle is a flat-out sprint
so Farhan’s start and his first
strokes must be technically perfect.
At the start you must go gliding
to decrease the minimum time.
Every split second counts.
He’s set to lose funding if he fails.
15km away, Farhan’s family have come together.
They've encouraged Farhan and his brother's sporting careers
right from the start.
My father was a swimmer.
So my brother and I decided to become swimmers like him.
Farhan’s father Sultan Saleh
twice represented Bahrain at the Olympic Games.
The son of a pearl diver, he too was
inspired by his father to swim competitively.
Also my father used to dive in the sea
and always took us to the sea
to go diving for months.
Bahrain was once famous for its supply of pearls to the world.
For thousands of years, the small jewels
were hand-collected in Bahrain’s shallow waters.
Each pearl found was worth a small fortune
and divers spent their lives at sea searching
for the small treasures on a single breath of air.
Today Bahrain’s pearling trade has long since vanished
but the Bahraini spirit to reach for success
against the odds remains.
If they qualify, I will be
proud that my children reached this stage
because the plan is at least to reach the Olympics.
The next day Farhan takes a one-hour flight
to the Dubai International Aquatic Championships
held in the United Arab Emirates.
One of the biggest swimming events in the region,
this four-day Olympic qualifying event
attracts the fastest swimmers from the Middle East
and North Africa.
Farhan is not only carrying the weight of his own hopes
but the expectations of an entire nation.
I clear my mind and concentrate.
Again and again, Farhan seeks to increase his speed.
Every split second counts -
he’s set to lose funding if he fails.
Farhan achieved a personal best time
and finished ahead of other competitors
to meet Olympic qualification.
The time was excellent.
The difference was a second or half a second less.
For Farhan, news of his selection to the games
is the result of his determination
to proudly represent Bahrain on the world stage.
Now I've reached the highest standard needed.
So we are getting support from both sides.
My parents and the Federation encourage me
never give up on your dreams
so I'll try not to give up on my dreams.
(AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES RIO 2016 FARHAN CONTESTED
THE MEN'S 50M FREESTYLE EVENT
FARHAN SWAM THE RACE IN 24.61 SECONDS PLACING HIM
58th OUT OF 85 COMPETITORS)