Egypt's Farida Osman set an African record in the women's 50-metre long course butterfly for the win at the 2015 Arena Pro Swim Series Santa Clara competition in the US. The California-based Osman hit the wall in a personal best of 26.08 to break her own record of 26.12 from the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, thus setting both a new Egyptian national record and African record. But that was not all for Osman. The achievement improved her world status from 16th to 12th in the world rankings. The 20-year-old Osman thus joins her two colleagues, Ahmed Akram, gold medalist at the Youth Olympic Games, and Marawan Al-Kamash, in qualifying to the swimming competition at next summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Akram is also studying in the US, in North Carolina. Osman is training in California, and has just finished a sensational sophomore season for the Golden Bears. In the 2014-2015 campaign, Osman took huge leaps forward in her sprint freestyles, as well as the 100 fly, which is an important progression for her as she prepares for a run at Olympic glory. The 50 fly, however, is the event in which she had her first major international breakthrough and continues to be her best event in the World Championship year, where it is a sponsored medal race. Osman was the 2011 junior world champion, winning the 50 fly to become Egypt's first ever champion at that meet. In 2013, she swam the 50 butterfly in 26.12 to become the first Egyptian to qualify for a World Aquatics Championships final (ultimately going 26.17 to finish seventh).
