Kenyan swimmer sets swimming record in World Championships

Kenyan swimmer Maria Brunlehner achieved an incredible feat in her promising career at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships that is being held in Doha, Qatar.

Brunlehner broke the 50m freestyle national record while competing in heat 11 on Saturday as she clocked 26:12 and in the process lowered the previous national record that stood at 26:14. 

The heat was won by Great Britain's Emma Harvey who was followed by Uganda’s Gloria Ann Muzito and Cherelle Thompson from Trinidad and Tobago. 

The National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) commended Brunlehner for the compelling performance.

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“Congratulations to Maria Brunlehner on setting a new national record of 26:12 in the women’s 50m free at the ongoing world aquatics long course championships in Doha, Qatar,” part of the congratulatory message read.

However, despite the huge milestone, Brunlehner failed to qualify for the next round of the competition. No one in the heat which she took part in proceeded to the two semi-finals scheduled to kick off on Saturday evening.

This is not the first time Brunlehner is donning Kenya’s colors at international events.

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She has previously represented the country in several international swimming events including the 2019 World Aquatics Championships and the 2019 African Games which were held in Gwangju, South Korea and Rabat, Morocco respectively.

She also helped Kenya clinch a bronze medal in the 4 x 100m medley relay in the African Games.  

The 2024 edition of the World Championships has attracted hundreds of swimmers from various parts of the world and is expected to end on Sunday, February 18. 

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It was supposed to be held in 2022 but it was delayed to 2024 due to the postponement of the 20th edition because of reasons related to the pandemic.

Besides the 50m freestyle national record, Brunlehner also holds the 800m freestyle and 100m freestyle national records. 

She set the existing 800m freestyle record of 9:17.64 on January 26, 2016, at the Brandenburgischer Adler Pokal meet in Germany before improving the 100m one to 57:09 on July 17, 2017 in Berlin during the European nation’s championships.

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