By Ifeanyi Uwagwu/Omolara Ajayi
Swimming competition at the ongoing 21st National Sports Festival began on Sunday, with seven finals takings place on the day.
It was a glorious outing for team Bayelsa as they almost claimed a clean sweep, winning four gold and two medals of the available seven up for grabs.
It was even more spectacular for the Glory of all Lands states, as their star swimmer, Collins Obi created a new festival and National Record in long-distance swimming, when he clocked the time of 1:57.76 secs in the 200 meters men’s freestyle competition, to win gold, breaking the record of 1:59:20 secs created by Sam Opuakpo of Delta in 2013.
In a star-studded lineup for the men’s 100m breaststroke, Team Delta clinched Gold through Foresight Osamezu and also won Gold in the women’s 50M breaststroke event.
Osamezu described his victory as a result of consistency and hunger to remain at the top.
“I feel happy despite the pressure before going into the pool, you know when you are at the top, it takes a lot to remain at the top, so I feel happy that the results are coming”, he said.
