Sameera Al Bitar, sometimes listed as "Samira" or "Al-Bitar", (born February 21, 1990, in Jordan), is a 2-time Olympic swimmer from

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. She was one of the first

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

women representing an

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

country to swim in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, when she swam for Bahrain in the 50 metre freestyle at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported incorrectly that Bitar was "Bahrain's first female Olympic swimmer"; in fact, Fatema Gerashi had represented Bahrain in swimming at the

Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

four years earlier. Bitar completed the 50m race with a personal best of 31.00 seconds, enough to win her heat but not enough to advance to the next round. She again represented Bahrain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and won her heat in the 50m freestyle. Her time of 30.32 was well ahead of second-place finisher in her heat, Benin's Gloria Koussihouede (at 37.09), but nonetheless insufficient to advance to the next round. She graduated from The

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

School of Business, where she majored in Finance and Sports Management.Not your average freshman
, The GW Hatchet; published 2008-10-9, retrieved 2009-07-09.

Career

Represented Bahrain in two Olympics (Athens, 2004; Beijing, 2008), five World Championships (Barcelona, 2003; Montreal, 2005; Melbourne, 2007; Rome, 2009; Barcelona, 2013), and the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitar, Sameera 1990 births Living people Bahraini female swimmers Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for Bahrain Swimmers at the 2006 Asian Games Triathletes at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Bahrain George Washington University School of Business alumni Sportspeople from Amman