World Aquatics recently awarded two Nigerian swimmers, Clinton Opute and Colins Ebingha, with training scholarships. This award comes as we have seen a rise of swimming in the Sub-Saharan African countries in the last few years.
Opute, who is from Delta State, recently competed at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, where he finished 65th in the 50 freestyle (23.79) and 72nd in the 100 butterfly (59.29). He currently owns the Nigerian national records in the LCM 200 fly (2:09.43) and 200 IM (2:16.43) as well as the SCM 400 free (4:15.84), 200 backstroke (2:37.85), and 200 IM (2:17.52).
He received one of the 100 World Aquatics scholarships which will run for the rest of the Olympic quad, beginning on September 1, 2025 and ending on June 30, 2028, and it will cover his training at the CN d’Antibes Training Centre in the south of France. It will also cover the full board accommodation and meal allowance, participation at competitions, Accident, Health, and Travel Insurance, and USD 100 per month of “pocket money”.
Ebingha, who is from Bayelsa State, will have his scholarship cover training in Hungary from September 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026. Ebingha does not own any individual Nigerian records, but he was a part of the men’s 4×100 free relay and mixed 4×100 medley relay National records.
He also swam at the World Championships in Singapore where he finished 61st in the 100 free (51.55), and 49th in the 50 fly (24.45).
They are not the first two scholarship recipients from a Sub-Saharan African country. Namibia’s Ronan Wantenaar is also a scholarship athlete who trains at the Antibes World Aquatics Training Center, and he qualified for the semifinals of the 50 breaststroke at the 2024 SC Worlds in Budapest and last month’s World Championships in Singapore, finishing 10th overall in 26.94.
This scholarship is the latest in a line of African swimming news we have covered recently. Last month, Mustafa Hashim, a 15-year-old, became the first Somalian swimmer ever to swim at a World Aquatics Championships, finishing 72nd in the 100 breaststroke (1:16.69) and 104th in the 100 free (1:05.01).
Nigeria has also been making moves in the world of swimming with Abdul Jabar Adama winning the silver medal in the boys 50 butterfly marking their first ever World Aquatics medal.
With Adama, Opute and Ebingha, Nigeria could be building a multi-swimmer Olympic roster for 2028.
Out of curiosity, who is the most successful scholarship athlete of all time?
I think it depends on what kind of scholarship. There are people from small countries who have had some kind of support to help them train and function as a ‘professional.’ ie Kirsty Coventry. Or those who are supported to train at a designated World Aquatics training centre… Like Wantenaar. They may be the 2 most successful of the 2 categories.
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