The National Sports Commission (NSC) has hailed 17-year-old swimmer Abduljabar Adama after he won Nigeria’s first-ever medal at a world swimming event, clinching silver in the men’s 50m butterfly at the World Junior Swimming Championships in Romania on Saturday.
Adama made history on the penultimate night of the competition, becoming the first Nigerian swimmer — male or female — to win a medal at a World Aquatics tournament.
He clocked 23.64 seconds to finish just one-tenth behind gold medalist Dean Fearn of Great Britain, while Czechia’s Jan Foltyn settled for bronze, narrowly trailing Adama with 23.65 seconds.
The teenager had already broken his own national record twice during the competition, lowering his previous mark of 23.81s set at the 2024 British Championships. He swam 23.61s in the preliminaries and then 23.48s in the semifinals to qualify for the final as second fastest.
Celebrating the achievement, the NSC wrote on X, “The National Sports Commission celebrates Abduljabar Adama for winning silver in the men’s 50m butterfly at the World Junior Swimming Championships in Romania, a feat never achieved in Nigeria’s history of swimming. Abduljabar was discovered at the National Youth Games and awarded a scholarship to London to further his development. In May 2025, he proudly returned to compete at the National Sports Festival in Abeokuta, continuing his inspiring journey.”
Adama’s silver capped Nigeria’s participation at the championships, where six other young swimmers — Ayobami Akindele, Omotola Akinsanmi, Aidan Dumeji-Abili, Angelo Nnaji, Kashope Obatoyinbo, and Omolola Akindele — also featured.
Earlier in the year, Adama underlined his status as one of Africa’s brightest prospects by winning three gold and one bronze medal at the 16th Africa Junior Swimming Championships in Cairo, where he set a new African junior record in the 50m freestyle and shattered the championship record in the 50m butterfly, earning the title of Best Male Swimmer of the Tournament.
