The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Dolphin Swimming

  • Dolphin Swimming League: Grange School takes early lead in Season 7

    Dolphin Swimming League: Grange School takes early lead in Season 7

    Grange School surged ahead in the opening leg of Season 7 of the Dolphin Swimming League, held over the weekend in Lagos, amassing an impressive 355 points to top the leader board.

    In the elementary division of Nigeria’s premier inter-school swimming championship, Children International School (CIS) followed closely with 254.5 points, while British International School (BIS) secured third place with 163 points.

    A total of 19 schools and clubs participated in the first leg of the elementary category, hosted by Grange School. The race for the top spot continues on November 1, when CIS will host the second leg of the competition.

    Speaking on the league’s impact, Technical Director of the Nigeria Aquatic Federation, Samuel Jesimiel, praised the Dolphin Swimming League for nurturing top-tier talent. “At the last two editions of the National Youth Games, we witnessed incredible performances, many of the standout swimmers came from this league. I’m grateful to see the seventh season completed successfully,” he said.

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    Jesimiel also highlighted the league’s growth: “We started with just seven schools, and now participation has doubled. That’s why we’ve split the league into elementary and secondary divisions. The entries are high, but we’re equipped to manage it, and I commend the organizers for their role in developing this sport.”

    Former President of the Nigeria Aquatic Federation, Babatunde Fatayi-Williams, echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the league’s transformative role in junior swimming. “The Dolphin Swimming League is an outstanding initiative, which is why I’ve supported it from the start. The results speak volumes, Lagos State claimed 19 out of 25 gold medals at the last National Youth Games. To sustain this success, we need more corporate backing,” he said.

    Fatayi-Williams also advocated for expansion: “This league could be replicated in other cities like Abuja and Port Harcourt to raise the standard of junior swimming nationwide. Swimming is a sport that must be nurtured early, catching them young in primary and secondary school  is the key.”

  • Dolphin League Season Six’s third leg holds  in Lagos 

    Dolphin League Season Six’s third leg holds  in Lagos 

    Lagos Preparatory & Secondary School (LPSS), Ikoyi, is set to host the third leg of Season 6 of the Dolphin Swimming on Saturday.

    Twelve schools will compete for honours and glory in this prestigious school swimming tournament.

    Organized by Dynaspro Sports Promotion in collaboration with Advanta Interactive, the Dolphin Swimming League receives technical support from the Lagos State Swimming Association and the Nigeria Aquatic Federation.

    It is also endorsed by the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and the Nigeria School Sport Federation (NSSF). Rite Foods is the official sponsor of the tournament while they pledged their support to grassroots sports development in Nigeria.

    Having hosted the tournament in the previous season, LPSS will once again be the venue, where the best swimmers from private schools within and outside Lagos will compete in the pool.

    Defending champions Grange and St. Saviour’s Schools will aim to continue their dominance against teams from LPSS, Greensprings, Atlantic Hall, Riverbank, Temple, Corona, and Whitesands Lagoon, all vying for medals and honours. Other contestants include Children International School, Boken Aquatics, and Team UNAT.

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    According to tournament coordinator Oluseyi Oyebode, the competition is reaching its climax as new swimmers emerge in the elementary categories. There are also plans to use the tournament to select the Nigerian contingent for the 2025 International School Sports Federation (ISF) Gymnasiade in Belgrade, Serbia, this April.

    “All things being equal, we will be selecting swimmers to represent Nigeria at the ISF Gymnasiade in Belgrade, Serbia,” Oyebode said.

    “This has increased the competitiveness of the tournament this season. Since announcing the Serbia tournament, we have seen significant improvements in the timing of some swimmers, and we expect a better outing in the third leg.”

    He added :“The tournament continues to grow, especially with the turnout of schools and swimmers. We now have young swimmers forming teams to participate in the competition. Our aim when we started the league was to produce swimmers who would represent Nigeria in international tournaments, and this is becoming a reality with the planned trip to Serbia. We will continue to encourage the swimmers and their schools, hoping that national handlers will look to them for talents to represent Nigeria in major events such as the Olympic Games.”

  • NYG medallist dazzles at Dolphin Swimming League

    NYG medallist dazzles at Dolphin Swimming League

    Triple gold medallist at the 2023 National Youth Games (NYG) Chioma Kanu showed her class at the opening of the season five of the Dolphin Swimming League held at the weekend in Lagos.

    The Dolphin Swimming League is the first private school swimming tournament organised by Dynaspro Promotion in collaboration with Advanta Interactive and has been endorsed by the Nigeria Aquatics Federation as well as Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC).

    Kanu who represented Lagos State at the NYG was at her best in all the events claiming victory for defending champion Grange School and she hopes to help the team to retain the title in the secondary division.

    Kanu, a year 10 student of Grange school, described the league as a veritable platform for her to hone her skills to be able to compete nationally with others across the country.

    Kanu, who is also a national cadet champion said her dream is to represent Nigeria at the Olympic Games.

    “I started in 2014 when I was in primary school, I started going for competitions and when I came to Grange that’s when I started taking part in the Dolphin League and other competitions.
    “For now, I just want to finish school, I aspire to go to the Olympic level but at some point I also want to finish my schooling and also meet my siblings where they are,” she said.

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    Coordinator of the league, Oluseyi Oyebode said the tournament continues to grow each year.

     “When we look at swimming, it seems to earn more medal than any other sport. We’re about to take advantage of it then this is the starting point.”

    He added: “We are trying at our own level to get all these coaches engaged and we want to involve ourselves with a lot of training but there’s no amount of training you’ll give without exposure, it’s very important because you will not go and compete it now with UK or with any bigger countries without having the opinion or you have the orientation of what is presently going on over there and that has always been the edge and not only in swimming, in other sports too.”