• SWIMMING

• Frank Rotich 3 days ago

Kenya swimmers miss out on medals but put up promising show at African Youth Games

Kenya’s young swimmers wrapped up their pool campaign at the 4th African Youth Games in Luanda, Angola, with strong and confident performances.

Although the team narrowly missed out on medals on Wednesday, they stood tall against some of Africa’s best swimming nations and proved they can compete at the highest level.

‎The highlight of the championships came from Neo Olengo in the 50m breaststroke. Olengo swam a personal best time of 31.02 seconds to finish fourth overall, just a fraction of a second away from the podium.

His effort earned him 585 FINA points and marked him as one of the most promising young breaststroke swimmers on the continent.

‎Igbaal Bayusuf also caught the eye in the sprint events, especially in the 50m butterfly. Bayusuf clocked 26.84 seconds to finish seventh overall, earning 571 FINA points — the highest points tally by a Kenyan swimmer at the Games. His speed and fearless racing made butterfly his strongest event in Luanda.

‎In the women’s races, Macrine Kalombo delivered an impressive swim in the 100m freestyle. She finished eighth overall in a personal best time of 1:03.13, earning 549 FINA points and placing herself among Africa’s top eight youth freestyle swimmers.

‎Ruth Lindkvist led Kenya’s backstroke events, with her best performance coming in the 200m backstroke.

She finished eighth overall in 2:38.62, scoring 467 FINA points and showing steady improvement in one of swimming’s most technical strokes.

‎Endurance duties were handled by Aryan Joseph, Kenya’s only distance swimmer in the pool events. Joseph competed in the demanding 800m freestyle, finishing 11th overall in 10:46.40 and earning 342 FINA points, highlighting Kenya’s growing presence in long-distance swimming.

‎Team Kenya Manager Grace Kingori praised the swimmers for their fighting spirit and positive progress.

“Our young swimmers put up a spirited fight against strong swimmers from giant nations,” she said.

“They performed well despite narrowly missing the podium. We will study the technical report with their coaches and improve where needed. As a federation, we must build a strong national coaching programme from grassroots to national level and continue learning from experienced international experts.”

‎With the pool events now complete, focus shifts to the Open Water Swimming Championships, where Kenya will be represented by Aryan Joseph and Pendo Anampiu.

Open water swimming continues to grow in the country and offers new chances for Kenyan athletes on the international stage.

‎The swimming team is expected back home on Friday morning. Kenya Aquatics, through liaison officer George Munene, has urged fans and stakeholders to welcome the athletes at JKIA and celebrate their brave performances.

‎Looking ahead, Kenya Aquatics will host the Long Course National Trials in February, before a busy 2026 calendar that includes the Youth Olympics in Dakar, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the World Aquatics Championships in Beijing, and the Africa Aquatics Zone 3 Championships in Kampala events that promise to build on the strong foundation laid in Luanda.