Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

National swimmer Anna Gurbanova will compete in the World Championship to be held in Budapest, Hungary.

"I am happy to compete under the Azerbaijani flag ", she said while talking to Trend Life.

The 17th FINA World Championships will be held in Budapest and Balatonfüred from July 14 to July 30. World championships for six disciplines will be held in the middle of the high season.

Born in Baku, Anna Gurbanova has been swimming since she was just five years old.

"Unfortunately, at that time there were no conditions to train and compete at a high level. I moved to Belgium and started to train in the pool. The last five years I've been living in South Africa, where I met Olympic champion Penny Heyns, who spurred me professionally, and I began to participate in regional competitions," said Gurbanova.

The national swimmer returned to Azerbaijan and met with President of Azerbaijan Swimming Federation Khanlar Fatiyev.

"He supported me from the first minute. I would like to thank him for the opportunity to compete under the Azerbaijani flag, I'm so glad. In July, I will compete in composition of Azerbaijan’s national team in the World Championships to be held in Budapest at the distance of five miles on open water. And from next year, I will compete at a distance of 10 kilometers. In March, South Africa hosted an open swimming Championship, where I won a gold medal and earned the right to join the World Cup," she added.

Gurbanova said that she will train for the World Cup in South Africa, as there is more height above sea level, which means more training loads and good results.

From next year, Azerbaijan will hold Open Water Swimming Championships. Khanlar Fatiyev said that the tournaments will be held in the Caspian Sea, not far from Nargin Island.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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