Qatari swimmers did the country proud by emerging champions in the age-group category of the GCC Swimming Championships in Kuwait on Sunday.

Qatar won 17 gold, 10 silver and seven bronze medals in the age-group event, which brought together swimmers in three age brackets — 11-12, 13-14 and 15-17. There was also an open category for swimmers over 17.

While hosts Kuwait finished second (10-16-20), Saudi Arabia (8-7-9), UAE (8-7-7) and Bahrain (5-8-5) finished in that order.

Qatari swimmers finished overall second in the open category. They won seven gold, one silver and two bronze medals to finish behind hosts Kuwait (9-10-4). Saudi Arabia (2-5-5), Bahrain (1-5-7) and Oman (0-0-2) finished third, fourth and fifth respectively.

Abdullah Ahmad proved to be Qatar’s best performer in the 11-12 age category. He won three gold medals, in the 50, 100 and 200M freestyle events. Ibrahim Hilal won the 50M backstroke gold in the same age-category.

Omar Ashraf struck gold in 200M breaststroke for swimmers aged 13 to 14. Yousef Al Khulaifi and Yusuf Ashraf won gold and silver for Qatar in the 50M backstroke race of the same age group.

There was another one-two for Qatar in the 13-14 age-group in the 200M butterfly where Omar Ashraf and Abdullah Al Khaldi finished in that order. Meanwhile, Tamim Mohammed was second in the 100M freestyle.

In the 15 to 17 age group, Mohammed Mahmoud emerged on top in the 200M individual medley while Ahmed Tariq finished third in the 1,500M freestyle race.