Singapore-Based Nigerian Swimmer Guns for LA 2028

Home is many places for swimmer Adaku Nwandu, who was born in China, lives in Singapore and wears the Nigeria flag on her swimsuit.

- David Lee

And it is at her current home in Singapore that the 17-year-old is making her debut at the World Aquatics Championships (WCH).

In the second heat of the 100m freestyle at the WCH Arena, the teenager, who has a Nigerian father and Chinese mother, led at the turn before finishing third in 1 min 0.89sec – she eventually placed 59th out of 82 athletes overall.

After her race, Adaku shared with The Straits Times that she was born and raised in Shanghai, and started swimming when she was eight. Interestingly, it was ice cream that kept her in the sport.

Adaku, who still has the 50m freestyle heats on Aug 2, said: "At a school competition, I didn't do so well and I asked my dad if we could make a deal. He said if I do better, he would buy me ice cream once every week, and that's a promise we have kept with each other. And that's what brought me here."