Four Emirati Guinness World Record holders, the Al Jasmi brothers, today launched the Abu Dhabi Swimming Festival 2015 at Emirates Palace.

Sponsored by National Health Insurance Company – Daman’s ActiveLife initiative and organised by Professional Sports Group in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, the Abu Dhabi Swimming Festival is a mass participation swimming event that will take place on February 28th2015

The Al Jasmi brothers - Obaid, Saeed, Bakheet and Faisal - who hold a Guinness World Record for being the first team of brothers to compete in the 4x100 metre relay at the Swimming World Championship in 2010, are hoping to inspire more people to get involved in the sport through the Abu Dhabi Swimming Festival.

Obaid Al Jasmi, the eldest of the brothers and also the UAE team captain, is hoping to encourage the public to take part in the capital’s biggest swimming event.

 “Being part of an event such as the Abu Dhabi Swimming Festival is humbling,” he said. “It is our pleasure to support the young and upcoming swimmers in the UAE. The swimming festival is a great way to bring together amateur and young swimmers to put their skills to use in a fun and social environment.”

Held at the iconic Emirates Palace, the Festival aims to attract over one thousand amateur swimmers from all over the UAE in a bid to increase fitness across society and raise awareness of safety in the water, in line with Abu Dhabi Sports Council’s health awareness initiative.

Competition categories include:

Abu Dhabi mile- 1 mile for ages 16+ (AED150)
Abu Dhabi half mile- ½ mile for ages 14+ (AED100)
Junior splash dash- 100m for ages 8-9 (FREE)
Junior splash dash- 300m for ages 10-11 (FREE)
Junior splash dash- 500m for ages 12-14 (FREE)
Parent and child relay- 300m for ages 10+ (AED80)
Parent and child relay- 100m for ages 8+ (AED80)
Adult relay (4 people)- 300m for ages 16+ (AED200)

The Abu Dhabi Mile in particular is expected to attract some of the best amateur swimmers from around the country – including the record breaking Al Jasmi brothers.

Dr. Sven Rohte, Chief Commercial Officer at Daman, said “We are delighted to add the Abu Dhabi Swimming Festival to Daman’s ActiveLife portfolio of events aimed at motivating the UAE community to lead a healthier, active lifestyle. Having the Al Jasmi brothers participate in the Festival is a real privilege. We hope they inspire other UAE Nationals to break more world records and to take up sports as a routine to stay healthy and fit.

“It is a pleasure to be the venue of the 2015 Abu Dhabi Swimming Festival, which, without a doubt, will become one of the highly anticipated annual sporting events to be hosted in Abu Dhabi,” said Holger Schroth, General Manager of Emirates Palace. “With our beautiful waters and Blue Flag-awarded beach, we look forward to promoting swimming and the importance of an active lifestyle to guests and residents. In addition, having the Al Jasmi brothers swimming in our waters will be very exciting."

Jamie Cunningham, CEO, Professional Sports Group, said: “The Abu Dhabi Swimming Festival is back again and for the first time it will be held at the Emirates Palace. We at PSG believe that it will once again become a firm sports event on the UAE calendar.”

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