Ahmed Jaouadi Named African Male Swimmer of the Year

Ahmed Jaouadi Carries Tunisian Distance Tradition En Route to African Male Swimmer of Year Recognition

Twenty years in the past, Ous Mellouli emerged as a world star from an uncommon locale. The Tunisian initially established himself as a world-class performer within the 400-meter particular person medley and 400 freestyle, and ultimately prolonged his success to the longer distance occasions and open-water swimming. His presence on a number of worldwide podiums, together with a pair of Olympic titles, was an enormous achievement for aspiring swimmers from Northern Africa.

Between the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and the 2023 World Championships, Ahmed Hafnaoui positioned Tunisia again on the major-competition map. After capturing the gold medal within the 400 freestyle on the Tokyo Games, Hafnaoui flourished on the World Champs in Fukuoka, profitable gold within the 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle, and silver within the 400 freestyle.

The newest Tunisian dynamo? Ahmed Jaouadi.

At the 2025 World Championships, Jaouadi proved himself the category of the world’s distance freestylers, as he secured a pair of titles in dominant vogue. The 20-year-old first defeated the sphere within the 800 freestyle behind a mark of seven:36.88, which was good for a three-second conquer Germany’s Sven Schwarz (7:39.96). Jaouadi’s time over 16 laps vaulted him to the No. 3 performer in occasion historical past. As an encore, Jaouadi added the gold medal within the 1500 freestyle, which he coated in 14:34.41. The Tunisian once more topped Schwarz, this time by greater than a second, and the trouble moved him to sixth within the all-time rankings.

Jaouadi’s distance double on the World Champs in Singapore has earned him Swimming World’s African Male Swimmer of the Year award. Jaouadi secured the popularity over South African Pieter Coetze, who packaged his personal sensational week at Worlds. Coetze was the world champ within the 100 backstroke, and tacked on silver medals within the 50 backstroke and 200 backstroke.

The 2025 marketing campaign marks the second straight yr by which Jaouadi has been acknowledged by Swimming World as its African Male Swimmer of the Year, so it’s not like his surge to world champion was a shock. In 2024, Jaouadi superior to the finals of the 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle on the Olympic Games in Paris, inserting fourth and sixth, respectively. He additionally received a pair of medals on the 2024 World Short Course Championships, together with gold within the 1500 freestyle.

However, Jaouadi actually took a significant step ahead over the previous 12 months, and he’s undoubtedly one of many frontrunners within the chase for gold on the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He is now coaching and competing on the University of Florida, a setting that additionally consists of distance stars Katie Ledecky and Bobby Finke, the reigning Olympic champion within the 1500 freestyle.

“I knew that everyone was struggling and feeling the pain,” Jaouadi stated of the 1500 freestyle at Worlds. “I wasn’t the only one. My body was in a lot of pain. But through my mind is that I want this medal and I want to win it. I just tried being the strongest one mentally. It was a good one, because all of the boys swam a good race. In Tunisia, we don’t typically have a lot of medalists in this event, because there’s not a lot of swimmers from Tunisia, and of course I’m proud to represent my country and get the medal.”