Nigerian swimmer Abiola Ogunbanwo has rewritten history as the first Nigerian woman to finish 100m freestyle in under a minute
The 17 year old athlete achieved the feat on Wednesday 28 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. She beat Ngozi Monu’s longstanding record of 1:00.50, which had been the benchmark since 2007.
Ogunbanwo earned Nigeria its second win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after claiming victory in heat 1 of the women’s 100m Freestyle swimming event in a time of 59.74s. Finishing ahead of Andela Antunovic of Montenegro (1:00.01), Nepal’s Gaurika Singh (1:00.11), and Mineri Gomez of Guam (1:04.00) in hopes of advancing to the semi-finals. She didn’t pull through though, as her time ended up being the 50th best in the event.
Ogunbanwo stands with pride after adding the 100m national record to the 400m freestyle and 200m breaststroke national records she currently holds.
In the 2019 World Aquatics Championships held in Gwangju, South Korea. She competed in the women’s 100 metre freestyle and women’s 200 metre freestyle events. In both events she did not advance to compete in the semi-finals.
