Sports Desk:

Bangladesh’s swimmers Annie Akter and Samiul Islam Rafi represented the country in four events at the ongoing World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. Despite failing to improve their personal bests in the 50m events on Saturday both had earlier achieved their career-best timings in the 100m category.

Annie clocked 31.39 seconds in the women’s 50m freestyle event on Saturday – slightly off her previous best of 31.05. Among 104 participants, she finished in 92nd place. Rafi competed in the men’s 50m backstroke and recorded a time of 27.21 seconds, which also fell short of his personal best of 26.90, placing him 55th among 63 swimmers.

Earlier in the competition, Annie had posted a personal best in the 100m freestyle, though she still lagged behind her South Asian counterparts, highlighting the gap that persists between Bangladesh and even regional rivals in swimming.