Bangladesh national champion Samiul Islam Rafi won his first international gold medal by clocking 26.68 seconds in the men鈥檚 50-meter backstroke event at the Malaysia Open Swimming Championships 2025 in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
The 20-year-old Bangladesh Navy team swimmer, Rafi, took 0.49 seconds less than his previous international best 27.17 seconds, which earned him a silver medal at the Arena Thailand Age Group Swimming Championships on April 6, 2025.
鈥業 won my first international gold medal with the (career) best timing in this event (men鈥檚 50-metre backstroke),鈥� Rafi told the media after his triumph.
Rafi, who represented Bangladesh through a wild card entry to the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, has been undergoing training under the World Aquatics scholarship in Thailand since December 2023. 鈥業 want to improve my timing to 25.00 seconds before participating (World Aquatics Championships from July to August 3) in Singapore,鈥� he said.聽
In November 2024, during the 33rd National Swimming, Diving and Water Polo Competition in Dhaka, Rafi set a new national record in the men鈥檚 50m backstroke, clocking 00:26.79 seconds, surpassing his previous record of 00:26.90 seconds from 2023.
