Minister Sanja Vlaisavljević hosted today at the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports the BiH paraswimming national team members, our champions, Ismail Zulfić and Ismail Barlov, after their fantastic results achieved in the previous period.

This was an opportunity for our athletes, together with the coach from the “Spid” Swimming Club, Amel Kapo, to summarise brilliant results achieved last year in several competitions, as well as to share their impressions with Minister Vlaisavljević and the Assistant Minister for Sports, Adnan Džindo.

The Minister warmly welcomed the entire team, praising their exceptional efforts, srong will and dedication of the young swimmers, their parents and the coach Kapo, ​​who, despite numerous difficulties, did not give up on the set goal: to achieve results and win medals. Pointing out how much pride and joy they afforded to everyone with their brilliant successes and so-far achievements, the Minister promised the maximum support of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports in the coming period that, as the guests pointed out, would be crucial for Barlov and Zulfić. Namely, in 2024, our paraswimmers can expect the European Senior Championship in Portugal, the Paralympic Games in Paris, and the World Series in Italy and Berlin.

Zulfić, who reached the A standard for the European Senior Championship at the Croatian Open Paraswimming Championship in Split, and thus joined his colleague Ismail Barlov, who had previously swum the standards for Madeira, spoke about the training process and everyday sports life, especially considering the fact that he was commuting to sports trainings from Zenica. He also talked about his other skills with which he impressed not only the BiH public, but also the entire world.

Barlov and his father Nihad expressed once again their gratitude to the Minister for the reception organised by the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports in Ismail’s honour after he had won the golden medal at the World Paraswimming Series in Egypt.

The conclusion of the meeting was that it was necessary to systematically resolve the status of Ismail Barlov, Ismail Zulfić, and all other athletes in order to prevent them ending up in a situation where, due to omissions in the system, their participation in competition at the world sports stage would become questionable.