Who Is Ayoub Hafnaoui

Ayoub Hafnaoui (أحمد أيوب حفناوي) is a competitive swimmer who represents Tunisia. He was born on 4 December 2002 and became the record holder for both the 800-meter freestyle short course and 1,500-meter freestyle.

In 2020, he participated in the Summer Olympics when he got his gold in the 400-meter freestyle category. Now, he’s ranked as the 16th swimmer in the world, with a time record of 3:43.36 during the Olympics.

He also participated in the 2020 Olympics, when he was the only Tunisian who won the gold medal in the competition. During the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics, he successfully finished 8th during the 400-meter freestyle event.

As 21 years old, Hfanaoui still continues to participate in multiple swimming events and championships held around the world.

Background

The athlete’s blood came from his father, Mohamed Hafnaoui, who was a national basketball player. Starting at 12 years old, Hafnaoui began his serious training by joining the national training programme.

National and International Career

2018

In 2018, Hafnaoui participated in the African Championships held in Algeria. At that event, he joined in the 800 and 1,500-meter freestyle categories. Along with this team, he competed in 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 freestyle.

During the 800-meter freestyle event, he finished third, winning the bronze in 8:08.74. Meanwhile, he also got the third position for the 1,500 meters freestyle, and the events mentioned above.

He also competed in Youth Olympics held in Buenos Aires. During the event, he was competing in the 200, 400, and 800-meter freestyle categories. He got the eighth position for the 400-meter freestyle by finishing in 3:55.94, and seventh for the 800-meter freestyle category with a time recorded in 8:04.43.

2021

Three years later, he participated in the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo for the 400-meter freestyle category. And during that very event, he successfully snatched the gold medal by finishing in 3:43.36. At that time, he was the third swimmer to win the gold from the slowest lane, the 8th.

He also worked his best during the 2021 World Short Course Swimming Championships held in Abu Dhabi. During the event, he competed in the 400 and 1,500-meter freestyle categories and went home with the silver medal for finishing second in 14:10.94 for the 1,500-meter freestyle. By doing so, he also broke the previous African record with the time of 7:33.69 for the 800-meter freestyle event.

2023

On this year, Hafnaoui participated in the TYR Pro Swim Series held in Knoxville where he got the gold medal for the 800-meter freestyle by finishing at 7:53.10, which was three seconds away from the silver medalist.

Just two days later, he got another gold for the 400-meter freestyle with a time recorded in 3:47.41. On the day four, he successfully strokes his personal best in 15:07.07 in the 1,500-meter freestyle final, while obtaining the silver medal.

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