Camil Ould Doua (; born 23 February 2002) is a

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

n competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. He qualified to represent Mauritania at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Biography

Camil was born on 23 February 2002 in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, France; his father is from

and holds a position as an

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

at a French mosque. The third of four children, he grew up in France and began swimming at age four or five. He attended high school at . He attempted to qualify for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

for his father's home country of Mauritania but was unable to, as the Mauritanian law at the time required him to give up his French citizenship. In 2020, Camil's club, Cercle des Nageurs de Talence, closed, and he stopped swimming for a time due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He later took up swimming again and joined the club Creps. By 2023, the Mauritanian law had changed and he was able to obtain dual citizenship to represent the country in international competitions. He became a Mauritanian national champion and participated at the 2023 Arab Swimming Championships. Camil has set several national records, including in the 50-metre freestyle, 100-metre freestyle, 50-metre fly and 50-metre backstroke events. In an interview with '' Sud Ouest'', he described the state of swimming in Mauritania: "In Mauritania, there is only football. Swimming? There is no infrastructure, the only existing swimming pools are those in hotels." He said his goal is to "promote swimming in Mauritania as much as possible", and he partnered with the Mauritanian Swimming Federation on a project to build an Olympic-sized pool in the country. In 2024, he was the sole Mauritanian at the

World Aquatics Championships The World Aquatics Championships, formerly the FINA World Championships, are the World Championships for six aquatic disciplines: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. The championships are st ...

, competing in the 50- and 100-metre freestyle events. He also competed at the 2024 African Games, where he placed fifth in the 100-metre freestyle. Camil qualified for the

in the 100m freestyle event and was named Mauritania's flagbearer. In preparation for the Olympics, he was trained by French Olympic medalist Grégory Mallet, who had previously worked with Camil when he was a youth at Talence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doua, Camil 2002 births Living people Mauritanian male swimmers French male swimmers Sportspeople from Bordeaux Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Olympics French people of Mauritanian descent Olympic swimmers for Mauritania 21st-century French sportsmen