Abdul Adama Lowers Own Nigerian Record in 50 Butterfly (23.48) to Rank 2nd Out of Semis

2025 World Junior Swimming Championships

• August 19-24, 2025
• Otopeni, Romania
• LCM (50 meters)
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  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
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For the second time in one day, Nigeria’s Abdul Adama has bettered his own National Record in the 50 butterfly after posting a time of 23.48 to place 2nd out of the semi-final.

This marks Adama’s 2nd-consecutive swim besting his record, as he previously lowered his mark down to 23.61 in prelims this morning. Prior to that, Adama’s National Record stood at 23.81 from the British Swimming Championships back in March.

A product of Mount Kelly Swimming in the United Kingdom, Adama has been a streadily rising threat for his country. A medal at World Juniors would be a huge step in his development towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, which will see stroke 50s contested on the Olympic stage for the first time. The country of Nigeria has only ever won 27 medals across all disciplines at the Olympic Games and has never had a swimmer win a medal at the Olympics. In addition, the country has never had a medalist at the World Aquatics Championships in any of the disciplines offered.

Though a World Junior Championships medal for Adama might not necessarily indiciate that he’s a threat on the senior level yet, he only just turned 17-years-old, setting himself up for a strong Olympic quad. His time from semis would’ve only been .2 off of qualifying for the semi-finals at Worlds and falls just a tenth shy of the World Aquatics “A” cut of 23.36. Given his steady progression in the event over the last few months, Adama will be one to watch.

Originally Reported by Mark Wild

BOYS’ 50 BUTTERFLY – Semi-Finals

• World Record: 22.27 – Andrii Govorov, UKR (2018)
• World Junior Record: 22.96 – Diogo Ribeiro, POR (2022)
• Championship Record: 22.96 – Diogo Ribeiro, POR (2022)

Top 8

1. Dean Fearn (GBR) – 23.36
2. Abdul Jabar Adama (NGR) – 23.48
3. Jan Foltyn (CZE) – 23.60
4. L.F. de Paula Filho (BRA) – 23.63
5. Maxim Skazobtsov (KAZ) / Evgenii Shilovskii (NAB) – 23.89
7. Szymon Mroz (POL) – 23.91
8. Rishat Zhumagulov (KAZ) – 23.93

It was the 2nd 50 fly of the day for Nigeria’s Abdul Adama and the 2nd National record as well. After posting a time of 23.61 to earn the 2nd seed into the semifinals, his 23.48 from the first semifinals booked him a spot into the final tomorrow night, as he won the heat by a comfortable margin of .15 over Brazil’s Lucio Flavio De Paula Filho. Kazakhstan’s Maxim Skazobtsov joined the pair under 23.90 as he went 23.89 to secure himself a spot in the final.

The second semifinal was a faster affair as not only did Dean Fearn post the fastest time of the semifinals, but it advanced five swimmers into the final. Fearn, a British star in the making stopped the clock in 23.36, improving upon his 23.47 by .11 to secure lane 4 again in tomorrow’s final. Taking 2nd behind the Brit was the Czech swimmer Jan Foltyn who was .24 back at 23.60. Skazobtsov’s teammate Rishat Zhumagulov snuck into the final in the 9th seed by just .01 with his 23.93, making Kazakhstan the only nation to advance both of their swimmers into the final.