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Bahrain's teenage swimming sensation Omar Yousef Jassim has snapped up the chance to put his talents to the test on the biggest sporting stage in the world - the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.
He was cordially invited by the Olympics Committee and International Swimming Federation (FINA) to participate in the 50-metre freestyle heats for being one of the world's most promising young swimmers.
Schoolboy Omar, 17, said: "It's an honour to be invited to the Games. I have dreamed of going to the Olympics and have been preparing myself for such a gigantic feat.
"Taking part will be a great experience for me and I do hope to make my family, coach and kingdom very proud."
Although the teenager has yet to prove his abilities in Beijing, he has already made a big splash in Bahrain. Omar has competed in a number of championships across the Gulf and as far afield as Melbourne in Australia.
Supporters cheered him on when he broke the Bahrain national record at the eighth Arab Juniors Swimming Championships held in Morocco, clocking 31.66 seconds in the 50-metre breast-stroke.
The speedy swimmer also claimed two gold, one silver and two bronze medals during the fifth GCC Championship in Kuwait.
His coach, Khalid Ahmed Abdulla, has guided him through his entire sporting career, helping to prepare him for the big occasions. Omar said: "Khalid is very close to my family and has been my instructor since I was very young. I guess you could say he has known me since I was in diapers!
"He has always known what my swimming goals and expectations are and I have grown very attached to him. He is like a second father to me."
Omar says his mother and father have also played a major role in his passion for swimming.
Mum, Faiqa Dawood Salman Ahmed, was once a swimming instructor and his father, Yousif Jassim, used to take him, his sister and three brothers to the Isa Town swimming camp.
He said: "I have been swimming since I was two years of age and really fell in love with the sport. Although there were no swimming teams at Isa Town Secondary Boys' School which I attended, I didn't let it stop me from hitting the pool whenever I could."
Olympic dreams run in the family too as his brother, Dawood, 23, now a student at AMA University, took part in a swimming event at the Sydney Olympic Games when he was only 16.
He said: "My parents were pretty impressed when my brother went to the Olympics and now they are thrilled for me too. My mother is so proud that we are both Olympic athletes!
"I never thought I would get to the Olympics but I think any athlete would wish to go and I really wanted to.
"I will honestly be happy with any position I achieve at the Games."
Majoring in international business and preparing for his finals at Kingdom University, Omar, from Riffa, still manages to make time to train.
He said: "In the summer I train twice a day for a total of four hours. I have to train twice as hard though because our pools in Bahrain are only 25-metres long while standard pools for competitions are 50-metres. I have to do more laps than usual and work out extra hard to keep up to par and it so happens that my favourite competition is the 50 to 100-metres breast stroke.
"Right now though, my training has cooled down as my coach does not want to push me too hard since we are nearing competition. He doesn't want me to tire myself out."
Omar is due to compete on August 14. He hopes to learn from the experience so that he can qualify and challenge for medals at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
He added: "Swimming is not a huge sport here in Bahrain. Most people follow football but the kingdom always supports you no matter what sport you are into.
"Besides, it's OK if not everyone cares about swimming because I love it ... and that's all that matters."
