"I transferred to USA in September last year”: 800m freestyle champion Ahmed Hafnaoui moved from Tunisia to excel at 2023 World Aquatics Championship

Recently crowned 800-meter freestyle world champion Ahmed Hafnaoui credited his move to Bloomington, Indiana, and a change in training for his latest win the 2023 World Aquatics Championship. The 20-year-old Tunisian swimmer shifted to the US last year, which helped him train better and the results were visible at the event in Fukuoka, Japan.

Hafnaoui is the African record holder in the short course 800-meter freestyle and the long course 400 and 1500-meter freestyle. The young swimmer stunned the world by winning the 400-meter freestyle gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a time of 3:43.36s. Hafnaoui also won the silver medal in the 1500-meter freestyle event at the 2021 Short Course World Championship in Abu Dhabi.

Ahmed Hafnaoui, Samuel Short and Robert Finke at Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships: Swimming - Day 4

At the recent World Aquatics Championship, Hafnaoui completed the 800-meter freestyle within 7:37.00s, ahead of Australia’s Samuel Short and USA’s Bobby Finke. He also secured the silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle event.

While talking about his achievement on Wednesday, Hafnaoui elaborated on his move to Bloomington, Indiana, from Tunisia in 2022.

"I transferred to USA in September last year and we were training super hard and we were changing a little bit in our practice," Ahmed Hafnaoui said.

Furthermore, he revealed the areas where he worked on himself.

"We were focusing on the details, turns, and this stuff, and (it was) always another kind of practice. I'm not used to it so I think that's what improved me," the young swimmer added.

Australian swimmer Samuel Short, who won the silver medal in the event, made the Oceanic record at 7:37.76. On the other hand, Robert Finke, the defending champion at the event, achieved the third-place finish with a time of 7:38.67, setting a new American record.

---

Ahmed Hafnaoui’s performances in 2023

Ahmed Hafnaoui at Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships: Swimming - Day 4

Ahmed Hafnaoui has been impressing the swimming world with his performances this year. In January, he outshined competitor Robert Finke by three seconds at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Knoxville. He won the gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle at the championship with a time of 7:53.10.

In that championship, he also participated in the 400-meter freestyle and 1500-meter freestyle. Hafnaoui won the gold medal in the former event and silver in the latter.

At the Pro Swim Series, in Fort Lauderdale, the Tunisian swimmer managed to win gold in the freestyle events of 400, 800, and 1500-meters.