Rubab Raza

Rubab Raza

Personal information
Born	January 15, 1991 Lahore, Pakistan
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Medal record Women's Swimming Competitor for  Pakistan Women's Islamic Games 2005 Tehran 50m freestyle 2005 Tehran 4x100m freestyle relay 2005 Tehran 4x200m freestyle relay South Asian Games 2004 Islamabad 4x100m medley relay 2004 Islamabad 4x100m freestyle relay 2004 Islamabad 100m backstroke 2006 Colombo 50m freestyle 2006 Colombo 50m backstroke

Rubab Raza (Urdu: رُباب رضا‎; born January 15, 1991^[1]) is an Olympic and national-record-holding swimmer from Pakistan. She became Pakistan's first female Olympic swimmer when she swam at the 2004 Olympics.^[2][3]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she swam the 50m Freestyle, though unable to progress through the first round she undoubtedly opened up the opportunity for future female Pakistani swimmers. She became the second Pakistani female to compete at the Olympics—following Shabana Akhtar at the 1996 Olympics—shortly before the country's third female competitor, Sumaira Zahoor, who ran the 1500m at the 2004 Games a few days after Raza swam. At the age of 13 at the time of her Olympic race, Raza was the youngest Pakistani female ever to compete at an Olympics.

The Pakistani Swimming Federation funded her with only $30 a month, but she was fortunate to have support from her father who is a retired army major and her mother who is a doctor.

She has won a number of national titles, and has seen success at Asian swimming tournaments. She also won a gold medal in 50m freestyle at Islamic Women's Solidarity Games in Tehran, Iran.

She has also swum for Pakistan at the:

• 2006 South Asian Games
• 2006 Commonwealth Games

References

1. "Rubab Raza". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2011-01-24.
2. "Pakistan girl gets Olympic dream". BBC News. 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2011-01-24.
3. "Pakistan girl makes Olympic history". BBC News. 2004-08-20. Retrieved 2011-01-24.