Sport | Other Sports
Salem wiser after 50-metre heats
His dive start was too deep and his stroke rate too high, but Mubarak Salem learned a valuable lesson in the pool yesterday.
- By Sarah Tregoning, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:35 May 3, 2009
Dubai: His dive start was too deep and his stroke rate too high, but Mubarak Salem learned a valuable lesson in the pool yesterday.
He may have been unable to swim his way out of his 50 metre breast stroke heat at the Asian Games, but Salem goes into today's 100 metre heat a wiser competitor.
Dripping wet and disappointed as he left the poolside at Hamdan Aquatics Centre in Doha, Salem knew that the 31.91 seconds he had taken to swim one length would not see him into the final.
"I had a bad start," said the 19-year-old from Dubai. "It was not a good race for me."
But his Australian coach, Greg Hodge, says that Salem should take heart from his first foray into the big time.
"It was pure inexperience," said Hodge. "He dived too deep at the start and consequently pushed his arms and legs too fast to make up for it.
"His stroke rate was way too high and he just wasn't catching the water. But on the other hand, he came and told me exactly what he did wrong when he came out the pool. He has learned a lot from this and he will now know what to expect in the 100 metres."
Salem's teammate, Obaid Al Jesmi, 24, starts his Asian Games challenge in the pool today in the 50 metre freestyle heats and follows up with the 100 metre freestyle on Tuesday.
"He is currently 23rd in Asia in the 50 metres and 17th in the 100 metres," said Hodge. "This is a great chance for Obaid to improve on those positions."
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