Velimir Stjepanovic, the Serbian swimmer who was born and raised in the UAE, will go in search of automatic qualification for the Olympic Games today, buoyed by an encouraging opening two days of competition at a test event in London.
The former Jumeirah College schoolboy is targeting the "A" standard qualifying time of one minute, 56.80 seconds in the heats, and then potentially tonight's final, of the 200 metres butterfly at the Olympic Park Aquatics Centre.
The Abu Dhabi-born swimmer has a personal best of 1:57.40 in the event, and has reason to be optimistic of lowering that, given his form since arrival in the UK.
On Saturday's opening night, he finished second in the 400m freestyle final for the fastest eight foreign qualifiers, behind Germany's Paul Biedermann, who was the world champion in the event in 2009.
Then in yesterday's 200m freestyle heats, he was the sixth fastest overseas competitor, 0.3 seconds behind Tiago Venancio, his stablemate at Hamilton Aquatics in Dubai.
Stjepanovic's times so far augur well for today's racing in his preferred event.
"Because of the nature of the competition, it is very difficult to qualify for the finals," Chris Tidey, their coach at Hamilton Aquatics, said in a telephone interview from London.
"Given that there are world champions and world record holders here, it is a really good way of benchmarking where they are at. The sole reason we are here is to get a time of 1:56.79 or faster [in the 200m butterfly] then we can say we are definitely going [to the Games]."
Venancio's time in yesterday's heat was his best for four years.
"He has a bounce back in his step now, and it has been building up all year," Tidey said of his Portuguese charge.
"He has his confidence back."
pradley@thenational.ae
If you go
The flights
The closest international airport for those travelling from the UAE is Denver, Colorado. British Airways (www.ba.com) flies from the UAE via London from Dh3,700 return, including taxes. From there, transfers can be arranged to the ranch or it’s a seven-hour drive. Alternatively, take an internal flight to the counties of Cody, Casper, or Billings
The stay
Red Reflet offers a series of packages, with prices varying depending on season. All meals and activities are included, with prices starting from US$2,218 (Dh7,150) per person for a minimum stay of three nights, including taxes. For more information, visit red-reflet-ranch.net.
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RACE SCHEDULE
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday, September 29
First practice: 7am - 8.30am
Second practice: 11am - 12.30pm
Saturday, September 30
Qualifying: 1pm - 2pm
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
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Sanju
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German intelligence warnings
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- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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