Arab Americans

Katya Bachrouche

Katya Bachrouche is a Lebanese-American international swimmer who holds the Lebanese record in eight events. Bachrouche, who is a former six-time Michigan champion as well as an All-American at the University of Virginia, has also represented Lebanon in many international events such as World University Games, Pan Arab Games, and the 2012 Olympic Games hosted in London.

Early Life
Katya Bachrouche was born and raised in Farmington Hills, Michigan. She holds dual American and Lebanese citizenship and  is also trilingual, speaking English, the Lebanese dialect of Arabic, and Spanish. In her senior year at UVA, she served as a team captain and ranked second in the 500 free, second in the 1650 free, and third in the 1000 free.

Sports
Bachrouche qualified in three events for the 2012 Olympics (200m, 400m, and 800m freestyle) but only participated in the 800 freestyle because she believed she had the best chance to do well in it due to her best time being 8:44.5, which is well under the Olympic selection time of 8:51.82. She finished in the top 20, placing 19th with a time of 8:35.88, taking nearly 9 seconds off of her personal record.

References
http://www.virginiasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17800&ATCLID=205347058
http://www.collegeswimming.com/swimmer/87419/
http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20120708/SPORTS/207080478/Olympic-swimmer