2023 African Games: Ghana’s swimming team impresses as second medal secured on day 4

Ghana’s swimming team put up yet another impressive performance at the Borteyman Aquatic Center on Day four of the event as Abeiku Jackson grabbed his second medal at the 2023 African Games, winning bronze in the Men’s 100m Butterfly.

Jackson, the team captain extended the his record as the first-ever Ghanaian swimmer to win a medal at the African Games as made history by bagging a second.

However, his focus still remains on the team’s performance and purpose, which is improving their personal and collective level as well as reaching the Olympics.

Speaking to 3Sports in an exclusive interview, Abeiku Jackson expressed his gratitude to the fans for their support, insisting that the cheers pushed him to be better and motivate his teammates to go for more as hosts of the Games.

“I’m excited. Of course I am. This is a stepping stone like I said. I’m proud of the team, we’ve worked so hard to get here and we keep going.
The fans are crucial. We are host nation, so of course it’s nice to have the support, which has been incredible”, he said.

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The 23-year-old finished with a time of 53.80 behind Egypt’s Abdallah Nasr and South Africa’s Jardon Eaton who recorded times of 53.29 and 53.45 respectively

In the Women’s 50m breaststroke final, Joselle Mensah and Nubia Adjei also played their part in the final by representing Ghana but failed to make the podium as both swimmers finished in 5th and 7th place respectively.

.@_owurakuampofo reviews the key happenings with Ghana in the 2023 African Games.#3SportsGH pic.twitter.com/ICRgb1nG8d

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Team Ghana also reached the finals of the Men’s 4x100m relay on the day but finished in 7th place with the Jackson brothers, Harry Stacey and Ivan Snowden participating in that event.

The focus for many might be the medal table and how many Ghanaians can reach the podium. However, the progress made by Team Ghana has been absolutely incredible in this competition.

Hence, as a growing sport, Ghana may just have overachieved at the Games in swimming after breaking the medal drought with its swimmers improving their personal times in the Games.

• 2023 African Games: Winnifred Ntumi wins Ghana’s first three medals

South Africa, Egypt and Algeria also remained at their very best in the competition, increasing their medal tally beyond six each in Swimming at the Borteyman Aquatic Centre.

Wednesday, March 13, will be the final day of Swimming at the 2023 African Games, and Team Ghana will hope they can secure more medals and book more slots at the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games in France this year.

By Prosper Kuzo|3Sports|Ghana