Abdellah Ardjoune was easily the most popular man at the Piscine Olympic Miloud-Hadefi on Wednesday, 6 May, holding off Egypt’s Abdelrahman Amr to claim the men’s 200m freestyle continental title in a time of 2:02.40 at the 2026 African Swimming Championships.
While the 25-year-old Algerian had established himself early in the race, Amr sought to reel in the three-time medallist at the African Swimming Championships in the final 50 metres – something the home crowd would not tolerate.
Growing from shouts of encouragement to a full blown roar of support, they willed Ardjoune towards the wall, and his first-ever gold medal at the African Swimming Championships. Amr finished runner-up in a time of 2:03.80, followed by South Africa’s Juan Boshoff in 2:04.00.
Egyptian fans couldn’t be too disappointed with the outcome, however, as Mohannad Yasser delivered a session-defining performance in the men’s 200m freestyle, powering ahead of South Africa’s Matthew Caldwell to claim the continental crown with a time of 1:49.35.
Caldwell, already continental champion in the men’s 800m freestyle, touched the wall second at 1:50.73 – more than a second ahead of Algeria’s Fares Benzidoun, who rounded out the podium in 1:51.97.
Tunisia’s Habiba Belghith managed to put a third nation on the winner’s rostrum in the women’s 100m breaststroke, claiming victory in 1:12.05, while Senegal’s Oumy Diop ruled the women’s 50m butterfly with a time of 27.03 seconds.
More action is due up from the 2026 African Swimming Championships on Thursday, 7 May, with the 50m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 50m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke, 100m backstroke, 400m individual medley and the 4x200m freestyle relay set to take centre stage in Oran.