2024 Africa Acquatics championship: Harry Stacey leads as Ghana grab 22 medals on day one
Harry Stacey grabbed 4 gold and one bronze medals on competition day one to lead Ghana’s bid to sweep medals in the 2024 Africa Acquatics Zone 2 juniors and seniors swimming championship.
Featuring 18 West and Central African countries, the biennial tournament began in Accra on Monday with 14 events in each division and the hosts have been quick off the pedal, accumulating 22 medals already at the Acquatics Centre inside the Borteyman Sports Complex.
Aside Stacey, there were also medals for compatriots Abeiku Jackson, Alice Joselle Mensah and Nubia Adjei as the host country’s medal count totalled 11 in the seniors and another 11 in the juniors on just the opening day, only six shy of the 28 total medals annexed at the last regional competiton in Senegal in 2022.
24-year-old Stacey topped the podium in seniors men’s 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke and 200m freestyle, placed third in 50m backstroke before joining his teammates to win the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay.
Also finishing on the podium for Team Ghana in the men’s division was evergreen Abeku Jackson who took gold in men’s 100m butterfly in 54.82 but wasn’t so lucky to make get a medal in 50m backstroke and 400m individual medley after only finishing 4th in both.
In the women’s senior’s tournament, 21-year-old Alice Joselle Mensah won gold in 100m freestyle and silver in 200m freetyle while Nubia Adjei grabbed silver in both 50m backstroke and 50m buttefly as well as a bronze in 100m freestyle.
Abeku Jackson, Harry Stacey, Joselle Mensah and Nubia Adjei combined to win gold in the 400m freestyle mixed relay in a time of 3:46.54.
The Ghanaian juniors were also on form, scooping 4 gold medals, 1 silver and 6 bronze medals to up the total count of the hosts to 22 with two more days of competition to come at the Acquatics Centre in Accra.
12 year old Jada Yankey led the medal grabbing spree for Team Ghana after taking gold in women’s 400m individual medley in a time of 6:08.60 before upstaging her elder sister, Rihanna Yankey to win 200m freestyle bronze in 2:39.49.
Other gold winners for Ghana were 14-year-old Michael Crabbe-Mann in men’s 50m backstroke in 29.94 and Ivan Snowden in men’s 50m breaststroke in a time of 31.62.
Snowden, 18, also grabbed silver in 100m breastroke behind Mathew Okuwedinuwe of Nigeria but just ahead of countryman, Johnson Gyarko who took third place, one of 4 bronze medals won by the Ghanaian junior boys on day one.
Other bronze wins came for Gyarko again in 50m breaststroke, Crabbe-Mann in 400m individual medley and Kelvin Abdallah in 100m butterfly.
There was team glory for Ghana courtesy gold in women’s 4×200 freestyle relay while the team of Jacob Kaleem, Ivan Snowden, Jada Yankey and Oduma Agyei finished behind Nigeria and Senegal to take bronze in 4x100m mixed relay in a time of 4:19.50.
Special Guest of Honour at the opening ceremony was Minster of Youth & Sports, Hon. Mustapha Ussif. Also present were William Kartey, Chief Director, Ministry of Youth & Sport, Mawuko Afadzinu, 1st vice President of Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), Nana Adu Mankatta (President, Sport for All), former GOC General Secretary Richard Akpokavie, Africa Acquatics President, Dr Mouhamedou Diop and Jace Naidoo (Secretary General, Africa Aquatics).
The 3-day competition continues on Tuesday with day 2 action, morning and evening sessions in both juniors and seniors’ divisions at the Borteyman Aquatics Centre.