Egyptian swimmer Farida Osman has booked a place in the women's 50m butterfly semifinals on Friday after setting a personal and African record at the FINA World Championships in Budapest. The 22-year-old broke her personal best, finishing fifth in the 50m butterfly heats with a time of 25.74 seconds. Osman came fifth in the 2015 World Championship final, clocking 25.78 seconds. Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom snatched the ranking lead of women's 50m butterfly with 25.25 seconds. Osman, a specialist in the 50m butterfly, made frustrating appearances in her two previous courses in the tournament so far, failing to reach the women's 100m butterfly semi-final after coming in 17th place with a time of 58.67 seconds on Sunday. Four days later, she failed to advance to the women's 100m freestyle semifinals after finishing 25th in the 2017 heats with a time of 55.52. In 2011, Osman became the first-ever Egyptian swimmer to win a medal in a world tournament when she won the gold medal for the 50m fly at the Junior World Championship in Peru. With her seventh place in the world championship in Barcelona 2013, Osman became the first-ever Egyptian swimmer to qualify for a final at any FINA World Championship. Two years later, she finished fifth in the 50m fly at the 2015 World Championship, setting a new African record with 25.78 seconds. The FINA World Championships – or World Aquatics Championships – are the main global competition for aquatic sports: swimming, diving, high-diving, open-water swimming, synchronised swimming, and water polo. The tournament runs from 14 to 30 July this year. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
