In her senior year at the University of California, Egyptian swimmer Farida Osman finally grabbed her first-ever individual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) title.
Osman, also known as The Golden Fish, did not only sweep the gold, but also became the third fastest female swimmer of all time in the 100-yard butterfly race.
The UC Berkeley senior won the NCAA title in the 100-yard butterfly race with a 50.05-second finish, beating her previous best timing by 0.35 seconds.
Osman thus became the third fastest female swimmer in the history of the race, with her performance only 0.04 seconds slower than that of American Natalie Coughlin, the second-fastest female swimmer in the category, and American Kelsi Worrell's 49.43-second finish, the fastest-ever female 100-yard butterfly swimmer.
In addition to her personal victory, Osman helped her team bring home two golds medals from the NCAA meet. According to Swimming World Magazine, the California Bears set a new NCAA and U.S. Open record in the 200-yard medley relay race, where Osman swam the fastest among her teammates during the relay race, leading them to the big win.
Due to her impressive performance, the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America >named Osman an All-American - a title given to the best players in a particular sport.
Born in the U.S. and raised in Egypt, Osman began swimming at the age of five at Al-Gezira Sporting Club. Since then, she has earned several regional and international swimming titles, becoming one of the most accomplished female Egyptian swimmers.
According to SwimSwam, Osman holds the African record in the 50-meter freestyle race and the Egyptian records for the 100-meter freestyle and butterfly races.
At the 2011 FINA World Junior Championships, Osman broke the championship's record in the 50-meter butterfly, becoming the first Egyptian woman to win a gold medal at the meet.
The Golden Fish has also represented Egypt at the Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016.