Adjei eyes success at World Swimming Championship

Top Ghanaian swimmer, Nubia Adjei, heads to her 4th World Championship in Budapest, Hungary, next month on a mission to better her previous feats on the global stage.

UK-based Adjei and high-flying men's number one, Abeku Jackson, will be the only athletes to represent Ghana at the 17th World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in the Hungarian capital between December 10-15, also referred to as ‘short course worlds,’ as competitions are held in 50m pools but not in an Olympic size one.

For the 21-year-old university student, it's another opportunity to test her credentials to be counted among the best swimmers in the world.

The target for Adjei when she steps into the water at the Duna Arena in Budapest remains simple, do better than her performances at previous world competitions in Abu Dhabi, UAE in 2021, Melbourne, Australia in 2022 and 2023 in Fukuoka, Japan.

"I feel very grateful for the opportunity to represent Ghana once again. Competing at this level is always an honour, and I hope to
make Ghana proud with my performance. My main goal is to perform at my best and improve my times," Nubia told Graphic Sports via phone from her UK base.

"I will be delighted to win a medal but swimming is a marathon, not a sprint. Everyone aims high for every competition, I’m focused on personal progress and taking each race as it comes, hoping to bring positive results that Ghana can be proud of," she pledged.

Born in the UK to Ghanaian parents, Adjei attended Sutton High School, started learning to swim by age 7, began competing by the time she was 10 years old and has won medals in various competitions in the UK including the Edinburgh International Meet and AP Race.

With Ghana, aside from the three world championship cameos, Adjei has also represented the country at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, African championships, Accra 2023 Africa Games as well as the recent African Aquatics Zone 2 Championships in Accra where she grabbed a total of 9 medals in both individual competition and relays.

She also held the Zone 2 record for 100m backstroke for four years until it was recently broken, but Nubia Adjei is only getting started.

"I’m pleased with my performance at the African Zone 2 Championships, especially as I won a few medals. It was a great experience to compete on home soil, and it gave me a clear sense of areas where I can improve for the world championships and going forward," she told Graphic Sports.

"Swimming has been a big part of my journey, and I’m grateful for all the experiences it’s brought me so far. I hope to compete again at the Commonwealth Games as well as the Olympics in the future. My focus is on consistent improvement, and if I have the chance to compete, I’ll do my best to make Ghana proud. I’m excited to keep pushing myself and see how far I can go," Adjei affirmed.