Andy Donaldson (@andy.swimming) reported that Dr. Mariam Saleh Bin Laden (@mariamsalehbinladen) completed a 22 km swim from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain in 11 hours 25 minutes. The celebrated Saudi swimming dentist and humanitarian was warmly welcomed by His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain (@hhskmediahhskmedia) who is the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman, and Bahrain Olympic Committee president.

Donaldson said, “Her swim follows in the footsteps of His Highness’ own 2014 swim (Khalid Bin Hamad Swim Challenge on left below) and Eric Watson’s 2015 swim (see here and on right below) though Mariam’s route took her north of the causeway. His Highness Shaikh Khalid awarded Maram Bin Laden the Khalid Bin Hamad Swimming Challenge Medal in recognition of her achievement.“

Mariam, who also became the first Saudi, the first Arab, and the first women to swim from Saudi Arabia to Egypt [shown below], will continue to seek additional unprecedented swims of note. “Mariam, Mostafa Said of Egypt, and I are planning a multi-stage swim from Dubai to Abu Dhabi in 2025,” said Donaldson.

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