Before 28 July 2021, no Nigerian woman had ever gone under a minute in the women’s 100m freestyle event. That is no longer the case after Abiola Ogunbanwo, on Wednesday at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, won Heat 1 of her favourite event in 59.74s.
Before Wednesday, Ngozi Monu’s longstanding Nigerian record of 1:00.50, which had stood since 2007, served as the benchmark, but Ogunbanwo has now set a new standard.
Competing in the very first heat of the women’s 100m freestyle event, Ogunbanwo finished ahead of Andela Antunovic of Montenegro (1:00.01), Nepal’s Gaurika Singh (1:00.11), and Mineri Gomez of Guam (1:04.00).
However, her finishing time was not good enough to take her through to the semis, as it was only the 50th best time in the event.
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In the women’s 100m freestyle event, the time returned by competitors is all that matters in the heats, as only the fastest 16 swimmers get to advance to the semi-finals.
But Ogunbanwo can hold her head up high after adding the 100m national record to the 400m freestyle and 200m breaststroke national records she currently holds.
