The 2023 African Games swimming event kicked off on Saturday at the Borteyman Sports Complex, with host nation Ghana making it to two finals, but falling short of securing any medals on the day.
Across the 100m freestyle, 200m butterfly, and 800m freestyle for both men and women, as well as the 1500m mixed relay, Ghana reached the men’s 100m freestyle and mixed relay final but fell short of clinching its first swimming medal in the history of the Games.
Ghana’s Harry Stacey came close in the men’s 100 meters freestyle final but missed out on the podium, finishing fourth with a time of 51.44 seconds, behind South Africa’s Clayton Jimmie (49.29), Namibia’s Alexander Skinner (49.97), and Egypt’s Abdullah Nasr (50.99).
The team also had one of the best starts in the mixed relay 100m final (3.42), but couldn’t edge out South Africa (3.34) who won gold, Egypt (3.37) who finished second, and Algeria (3.40) who secured bronze.
Speaking to 3Sports in an exclusive interview after the finals, Ghana’s captain Abeiku Jackson insisted that he is satisfied with the team’s performance.
He stated, “Today we came close to achieving a great feat. We did really well. The team gave it a go and we will keep working to achieve more in this competition. We were really close. A few seconds from grabbing it. Seven seconds. In swimming, seven seconds is a lot and we need to keep improving. Like I said, we keep going. There are positives from the individual aspects as well, and as a group, we will do our best to win.”
There was also a huge crowd at the Borteyman Aquatic Center with many Ghanaians and other Africans cheering their teams on as the heats progressed. Many were left in awe of the quality and competitiveness of the athletes.
South Africa secured five medals on Day one with Caitlin Ann De Lange, Clayton Jimmie, and Liam Vehbi all being honoured on the podium. Although there’s fierce competition at the Games in Swimming, they could secure more medals than Egypt who topped the charts at the 2019 African Games in Morocco.
Swimming at the 2023 African Games is expected to end on 13th March, and Ghana still has a chance of winning a medal.
By Prosper Kuzo | 3Sports | Ghana