After competing at the Rio Olympics this past summer, junior swimmer Akram Mahmoud is looking to win the first national championship for South Carolina swimming.
“Hopefully this year, I will be NCAA Champion," Mahmoud said. "My goal is to try and win the 500m and mile (1650m) at the NCAAs this year."
Capping off a great season last year with the Gamecocks, including a second-place finish in the 1650m at the NCAA Championships, Mahmoud qualified to swim at the Olympics with Egypt. Mahmoud swam in two events, finishing in the middle of the pack of two preliminary heats. But for the 19-year-old, it was all about the experience.
“I think being able to race against the best distance swimmers in the world, and I’m still 19 years old, and they were 23, 24, something like that, so I got a lot of good experience and a lot of confidence,” Mahmoud said. “I think that will help me to be better this season ... I think I am capable of doing something really special this year.”
After competing with the best at Rio, Mahmoud enjoyed the opportunity and hopes to continue swimming at the games in the future.
“It was a great pleasure to be able to represent Egypt and the University of South Carolina,” Mahmoud said. “It put me under a lot of pressure, but I tried to stay mentally focused the whole time so I could be able to swim fast and represent my country and university. My goal is to compete at the 2020 and 2024 Games.”
The Cairo, Egypt, native is grateful for the opportunity he was given to come to South Carolina. After meeting the coaches, he knew this is where he wanted to continue swimming.
“I was in contact with coach McGee (Moody) after I got the gold medal at the youth Olympic Games,” Mahmoud said. “He wanted me to come here. Then I talked to coach Mark (Bernardino) ... He's a great distance swimmer and a great distance coach, so that made me try to come here and swim with coach Mark (Bernardino) and ... under coach McGee Moody. With my teammates, I was able to do that.”
After seeing Mahmoud at the world championships in Barcelona a few years back, coach McGee Moody thought it was a no-brainer to bring him to South Carolina.
“He's an amazing talent,” coach Moody said. “He's one of the best distance swimmers on the planet. He is a talented individual, and then once you get to meet the young man, you see he's not only a great athlete, but he's a better person.”
Mahmoud has racked up the accolades since arriving in Columbia, earning All-SEC and All-America honors in both his freshman and sophomore seasons. He currently holds four Gamecock records. He finished sixth at the NCAAs in his freshman season and runner-up in his sophomore season. He also became an SEC Champion last year, winning the 1650m freestyle. He was the first Gamecocks swimmer since 2001 to win an SEC Championship.
He also excels outside of the pool. He was named the South Carolina Male Student-Athlete of the Year for the 2015-2016 school year.
“I felt so honored because we had been working really hard throughout the year,” Mahmoud said. “And to see your hard work that you put in and do a good job. It made me feel proud, and I can’t wait to have great results next season, too.”
Entering his junior season, Mahmoud wants to bring home the first national title for South Carolina swimming.
“It would mean a lot to me. To be the first swimmer to do that would put me under a lot of pressure,” Mahmoud said, “but I believe I can do it with my teammates supporting me and with my coaches supporting me every single day and the hard work we put in every day at practice. I think that will help me be able to be an NCAA Champion.”
Moody believes that come March, Mahmoud can win the school’s first title, But Moody also wants this to start a trend and not stand alone.
“It would be huge for our program,” Moody said. “But we definitely don’t want that to be a singular award. We want it to continue happening. That’s the goal. He has the opportunity this year to be the first one ever ... We're going to push him as hard as we can push him, and I know he is working as hard as he can. So we just gotta get to March and race and see what happens.”
Mahmoud’s journey toward the national championship begins on Oct. 7 at the Florida Gulf Coast Invite in Fort Myers, Florida.