BEVERLY HILLS, April 06, (THEWILL) – There were new swimming records set in Nigeria at the swimming event of the ongoing Edo 2020 National Sports Festival (NSF) on Monday. Swimmers from Delta and Bayelsa States and also from the host state swam to national record times on the first full day of the competition.
The women 100m freestyle Ondo State record time of 1:02.66min set by Okpilobo in the Lagos 2012 edition of the NSF, which had held for nine years, was broken when Ifiesegba Gagbe of Bayelsa became the new record-holder with her time of 1:01.54min.
By shaving off some seconds from Okpilobo’s record, Uwaje Ilayefa of Edo also rewrote the books, though she finished second with a time of 1:01.96 in the 100m freestyle.
Delta’s Timipamere Akiayefa set her own record in the 200m butterfly event.
With these records come medals and the excellent showing of the coastal states had given them the early lead on the medals table.
Teams Bayelsa and Delta are neck and neck in the gold haul with five each after Day 1.
A total of seven of the 10 gold medals won by both states came from the Swimming Pool events. Three of the seven went to Bayelsa and four to Delta.
In the men’s 100m breaststroke event, Foresight Osamezu of Team Delta clinched the gold medal while Teams Edo and Cross Rivers settled for the silver and bronze medals respectively.
In her record-setting swim to gold, Bayelsa’s Ifiezegbe Gagbe took the women’s 100m freestyle, leaving Edo to the silver and Delta’s Timipamere Akiayefa, the bronze. But, Akiayefa also won her first gold medal of the day when she finished ahead of swimmers from Kano and Bayelsa States in the women’s 200m Butterfly, to set the new record.
To get the third medal of the swimming event, Akiayefa beat the Edo and Bayelsa swimmers to the gold medal for Delta in the 50m backstroke women event to finish her day for Team Delta in the pool with a new 200m Butterfly record two gold medals and one bronze.
Team Bayelsa also won two gold medals and a bronze medal in judo to cap a memorable opening day of action at the 20th NSF.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
