Asian Age Group Aquatics Championships:
Iranian boys shine with 16 medals
Young Iranian swimmers finished their campaign at the Asian Age Group Aquatics Championships with an impressive 16 medals – including double golds – in the Filipino city of Capas.
On Thursday, Iranian diver Sam Vajer brought the curtain down on his glittering run at the event by scoring 339.8 points to grab the gold in the boys’ board level 1m contest.
This was a fourth medal for the Iranian in Capas following a platform silver as well as the synchro board level bronze alongside Kiumars Aslani.
The Iranian duo then claimed the silver in the 3m synchronized springboard event with 233.64 points.
Aydin Nosrati was the other Iranian diving medalist, taking the board level 1m silver in the 13-14 age class.
Samyar Abdoli had won a first gold for the country in the competitions, thanks to a best time of 22.83 seconds in the 50m freestyle final of the over-18 age class.
Abdoli also teamed up with Homer Abbasi, Mehrshad Afghari, and Matin Sohran for a bronze in the 4X100m freestyle relay final.
Mohammad-Mahdi Gholami was unfortunate to leave Capas without a gold but still enjoyed a prolific campaign with five medals in the 13-14 age category.
The Iranian boy had to settle for a couple of silvers in the 200m individual medley and 200m butterfly events, while taking the bronzes of the 50m backstroke and 100m backstroke contests.
Gholami was also part of the Iranian bronze-winning team – alongside Yashar Soleimani, Rayan Zare’, and Shantia Nazari – in the 4X100m freestyle relay final.
Mohammad Qassemi and Ali Rashidpour added two silvers to Iran’s medal haul in the 15-17 age group competitions.
Qassemi clocked 2:03.46 minutes in the 200m butterfly final, with Rashidpour finishing as the runner-up in the 50m butterfly event with 24.87 seconds.
Afghari and Soleimani, meanwhile, left the Philippines with the bronze medals of the 100m butterfly and 50m butterfly competitions respectively.