by Thinley Namgay

THIMPHU (Kuensel/ANN) -  Bhutan made history when the country’s first two swimmers participated in the 18th FINA World Championship held in Gwanju, South Korea with the support from FINA (International Swimming Federation)

Kinley Lhendup (15) and SangayTenzin (16) participated in the 18th FINA World Championship held in Gwanju, South Korea from 12th to 28th July.

Kinley Lhendup competed in men’s 50m butterfly and men’s 200m individual Medley. Similarly, Sangay Tenzin competed men’s 50m Freestyle and men’s 100m freestyle.

Kinley Lhendup completed 1.50m Butterfly in 34.21 seconds and 2.200m individual Medley in 3:00:53. Sangay Tenzin completed 1.50m freestyle in 29.49 seconds and 100m freestyle in 1:07:28.

Both the athletes performed their personal best (PB) given the amount of training they received at FINA Training Center in Phuket, Thailand for a period of only three months before the championship.

They will continue to train in Phuket for the next for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Due to growing demand for youths in swimming, the Bhutan Aquatics Federation was established in July 2017. As a member country affiliated to FINA, it is mandatory to participate in at least one FINA competition.

A total of 2623 from 193 nations are participating in this competition.