Exclusive interview with the Secretary General of the Asian Swimming Federation, Taha Sulaiman Al Kishry

Loud cheers came from the audience in the stand when the "three treasures of Zhejiang", Wu Peng, Fu Yuanhui and Ye Shiwen appeared by the pool, after a long absence from the public. Their names once dazzled, but in recent years they rarely appeared in international competitions. For the same goal – "to participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games held at home", they formed a team comeback aiming at the Hangzhou Asian Games. 

This pool of water is swimmers' sports nostalgia that they can never give up. 

Less than half a year before the opening of the Hangzhou Asian Games, the official magazine Hangzhou Asian Games interviewed Taha Sulaiman Al Kishry, Secretary General of the Asian Swimming Federation, inviting him to talk about the current status and future trends of Asian swimming, as well as his expectations for the swimming events in the Hangzhou Asian Games. 

Asian swimming has a high level of excellence 

The Asian Swimming Federation is the governing body of swimming affairs in Asia. It is affiliated to the Olympic Council of Asia and the International Swimming Federation, with its headquarters located in Muscat, Oman. 

Asian swimming sports have a high standard in the world, with excellent performances in all previous competitions. "Indeed, the popularity of aquatic sports, especially swimming, has grown significantly over the past few years, which is inseparable from the excellent performances of the sport." Taha Sulaiman Al Kishri said, "we at the Asia Swimming Federation with support from World Aquatics and our member federations are continuously hard at work to organise high level competitions in our continent and engaging in various development programmes for coaches and officials. Our main priority is always to provide what is best for our athletes." 

He said that "all 45 member countries and regions are doing their best to excel and improve, but as records show, we still have Japan, China, South Korea, and Hong Kong making waves in the international competitions. Aquatics, like other sports, continues to innovate with new technology. Progress in technology will surely cause inevitable influence in swimming and other disciplines." 

The Hangzhou Asian Games venue is an "architectural marvel" 

As the preparation for the Hangzhou Asian Games advances, more and more people have experienced the Asian Games venues, among which the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre natatorium has attracted special attention with its unique shape and advanced intelligent facilities. 

Taha Sulaiman Al Kishri is familiar with the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre natatorium. He said, "The venue is an 'architectural wonder' — I am confident that it will host one of the best swimming events in the Asian Games history. I do expect that we will have high numbers of swimmers participating and that we, our Technical Officials and of course the Organising Committee, will provide the best experience to our swimmers." The natatorium which is the "architectural wonder" mentioned by Taha Sulaiman Al Kishri can accommodate 6,000 spectators, only second to the "Water Cube". It is the largest swimming and diving natatorium in Zhejiang Province. There are five pools, namely the competition pool, the diving pool, the warm-up pool, the children's pool and the family pool, which will bear the Hangzhou Asian Games programmes of swimming, diving and synchronised swimming. It will produce 53 gold medals, which will be the venue producing the most numerous gold medals in the Hangzhou Asian Games. 

We look forward to this high-level sports pageant 

"Zhejiang leads in swimming in China and Hangzhou in Zhejiang." Swimming is the glory of Hangzhou, a city of sports. With the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games like surging waves approaching, the swimming competition will surely arouse more expectations. 

Taha Sulaiman Al Kishrican has many expectations ."Events such as the Asian Games attracts millions of spectators in the continent and the world. It shows hard work and the dedication of athletes which inspires a new generation. It is also a venue to promote sports and increase its popularity." Taha said, "For my country, Oman, the National Olympic Committee have established programmes and various initiatives to develop the skills of our athletes to further improve their records. As of this moment, we cannot ascertain the size of the delegation we will be sending but our NOC is trying its best to send the greatest number of athletes." 

Taha Sulaiman Al Kishri extended his warm congratulations to the HAGOC and wished the Hangzhou Asian Games a complete success — " I am sure that all sports will be organised at the highest level which all athletes, officials, and spectators will enjoy."