A new national record has been set in swimming by 17-year old, Abiola Ogunbanwon, representing Team Nigeria at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
Ogunbanwo won heat 1 of the women’s 100m Freestyle, finishing strongly and swimming to a new Personal Best time of 59.74s.
She won her heat in the women’s 100 metres freestyle ahead of Andela Antunovic of Montenegro who came second while Gaurika Singh of Nepal came third.
Unfortunately, her winning time fell short of the best 16 times that progressed into the semi-final,
Nonetheless, Ogunbanwon emerged as the first Nigerian woman ever to finish this event in less than one minute.
Before Ogunbanwo, the only Nigerians to have graced the pool at the Olympics were Musa Bakare (Barcelona ‘92), Ikhaghomi Joshua (Barcelona ‘92), Monu (Sydney 2000 & Beijing 2008), Gentle Offoin (Sydney 2000), Lenient Obia (Athens 2004), Eric Williams (Athens 2004), Yellow Yeiyah (Beijing 2008), Samson Opuakpo (Rio 2016), and Rachael Tonjor (Rio 2016).