Swimmer Ryan Gambin, who is representing Malta, will be aiming to qualify to take part in next summer’s Beijing Olympic Games next week during the European Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
The Malta Independent had announced last week that Gambin has come over from Australia to represent the country. But he needs to qualify to be able to take part in the Beijing Games. He has already reached the qualifying time but because of the fact that he has not yet taken part in a world or European championship, then he will have to do it all over again.
Maltese Olympic Committee president Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco said he was quite confident that Gambin will be able to qualify.
The swimmer has already set some national records since arriving in Malta (at a time trials organised by ASA Malta).
Ryan is optimistic in achieving the qualifying standard especially in the 100m fly where he is already hitting 54.34sec, which is his personal best. His aim is to improve on this timing.
To achieve his ambition, Ryan is training hard every day with two training sessions, one in the morning at the national swimming pool and another in the afternoon doing mostly gym sessions.
At the recent swimming time trials organised by the ASA Malta, Ryan broke an incredible number of national records – in the 100m fly with a finish of 55.74secs (previous record stood at 58.41secs), the 50m fly with a 25.06secs (previous record stood at 26.93secs), the 50m free with a 24.70secs (previous record stood at 25.20sec), and the 50m back with a 28.37secs (previous record stood at 29.88secs).
Teams and athletes from 40 European countries will be competing in three disciplines: swimming, diving and synchronised swimming.
Gambin’s participation was made possible through the partnership agreement that the Maltese Olympic Committee has with Malta International Airport.
Gambin, 22 yrs of age, has been practicing his sport since 1992. He will be Malta’s only representative in these Championships and will be competing in a number of categories including the 50m free/fly/back and the 100m fly; in the 50m free and 100m fly he will also be trying to make the Beijing Olympic Games qualifying times of 23.13sec and 54.71sec respectively. Ryan will have a busy schedule and will be in action starting on Tuesday, 18th March.