Nigeria’s quartet of Colins Ebingha, Clinton Opute, Abduljabar Adama and Tobi Sijuade made the podium in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay at the African Games in Accra, Ghana, clinching the bronze medal.
The Nigerian swimmers clocked an impressive time of 3:26.01 over the relay event to secure third place on the medal stand.
The gold medal went to powerhouse South Africa, who touched the wall first in 3:23.86 to claim the African Games title.
Egypt took silver in 3:25.43, with their team narrowly beating out the Nigerians for second place.
Despite missing out on the higher podium spots, the bronze medal performance represents a significant achievement for the Nigerian relay team at this prestigious multi-sport event.
By making the podium, they have announced themselves as rising forces to be reckoned with in African swimming’s premier relay event.
The 4x100m freestyle relay requires a combination of endurance, raw speed and precise baton changeovers from all four swimmers over the 400m distance.
Nigeria’s bronze medal is also a promising sign for the future development of the sport domestically as they continue nurturing the next generation of elite swimmers.
With this African Games medal now under their belts, the quartet of Ebingha, Opute, Adama and Sijuade will be motivated to build on this success as they target more podium finishes at upcoming major international competitions.