_ Clement Nwankpa Jr in Luanda_
Nigeria’s making waves in swimming at the 2025 Africa Youth Games in Luanda,
Team Nigeria’s performance signals a turning point. For years, Nigeria struggled in this multi-medal sport, often trailing behind powerhouses like Egypt and South Africa. But with early starts and solid foundations, Nigerian swimmers are now poised to flip the script.
This is the start of swimming renaissance.
At the continental level, we had watched nations like Egypt and South Africa feast on medals in water like sharks preying in the sea. These medals ultimately enabled these countries to finish ahead of Nigeria in the overall medals table in most of these events. If Nigeria had not been impressive in Africa, of course little should be expected at the global stage.
- The shortcomings in swimming weren’t accidental. They were as a result of poor foundations. This is one of the sports that athletes stand better chances of excelling when they start very early. And we had never even been excellent at the junior levels.
Meanwhile, recent events point to a change in the nation’s fortunes in swimming. There has been a consistent harvest of medals by the nation’s teenagers in age group championships, a development that has been carried over to the ongoing Africa Youth Games in Angola.
In May, 17 year old Abdul Jabar Adama emerged the best male athlete at the 3rd Africa Junior Swimming Championships in Cairo. He won three gold in the 50m butterfly, 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle to lead Nigeria to a third place finish on the overall medals table. On two occasions, he broke the championship record in 50m butterfly on the same day.
Then in August this year, Adama became the first Nigerian to win a medal at the World Aquatics Junior Championships held in Romania with a silver in the men’s 50m butterfly. His time of 23.48 secs in the semifinal was a new national record. He had also set the old record of 23.61 that same morning. Meanwhile, prior to the world championship, he had set a record of 23.81 at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships in April. So here was a sensation setting records and breaking the same.
Adama was setting the pace but results from the swimming events at the Africa Youth Games in Angola on Saturday highlighted a generational shift. Obviously Adama isn’t alone in this revolution. At the AYG, 14 year old Aidan Dumuje Abili, who was in the Invited Junior Athletes contingent at the Gateway Games, clinched a bronze in 50m butterfly with a personal best time of 25.78, an improvement from the 26.07 he did in Ghana in October.
Abili was a beneficiary of the IJA initiative that enabled budding athletes to rub shoulders with the elites. He had won two silver and one bronze at the last National Sports Festival. After his exploits at the Gateway Games, Abili had set his sights on the global stage aiming to be a trailblazer at the Olympics.
He said, “I have not participated at this level before. On behalf of the other IJA athletes, I thank the NSC for this opportunity. I have learnt quite a lot here. This exposure will surely help me in my career.”
Abili, who was a triple gold medalist at the 2024 National Youth Games, promised to take advantage of the Gateway Games participation to put Nigeria on the podium in future global events.
“I have my eyes now on the Youth Olympics. After that I will target the Olympics in the years ahead. I will do my best to make sure I put Nigeria on the podium in appreciation of this opportunity. We have to make this IJA experience count”, he added.
On the evidence of today’s performance, he is obviously living up to this promise of consistently putting the nation on the podium in the future. His sights are on Youth Olympics and the Olympics proper but the NSF and AYG are perfect stepping stones.
