Bahraini athlete Sameera Al Bitar represented Bahrain in swimming at two Olympic games, before switching to triathlon. Sameera faced a number of barriers when she was growing up as a young female swimmer in Bahrain. But as triathlon continues to grow in popularity in the Gulf, Sameera's confident that the hiccups she faced will help future generations. You'll hear: 10:48 Sameera talks about starting swimming at the age of 6, when she was a child in Jordan and going on to represent Bahrain in swimming at two Olympics and going to the Olympics through the wildcard system 13:38 Some of the struggles that Sameera faced 20 years ago when she faced some criticism for swimming and the swimming attire. "I had a few hiccups along the way, but this has helped the new generation." 23:36 Why Sameera believes triathlon has exploded in popularity in Bahrain 27:00 How she got into triathlon from her swimming background 31:13 What barriers women in Bahrain face if they want to do a triathlon 38:50 Why she thinks Bahrain is an example in the wider region for the growth of triathlon 42:30 The difference between wild card qualification and qualification for the Olympics and if you feel like you have imposter syndrome when you haven't qualified 52:35 what does it mean to be an Arab endurance athlete Find out more about this week's guests Sameera Al Bitar Instagram Like what you heard? Let me know! Connect with Inside Tri Show across Social Media, just search Inside Tri Show or click on the icons below Sponsors of the show Long Range Fuel are phenomenally tasty nut butters from Resilient Nutrition, enhanced by cutting edge science, to boost your stamina, keep you calm and alert and bolster your resilience. Get 10% off by using the code insidetri10 or go direct via this link. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices