The joy of Mrs Timehin Ogundipe knows no bound when her son, Oluwasemilore, won a gold medal in the 50m breaststroke swimming event on Wednesday at the ongoing National Youth Games in Ilorin, Kwara State.
Oluwasemilore Ogundipe’s gold medal was one of the two gold medals hauled by Team Lagos in the morning session of swimming event on Wednesday at the Ilorin Township Stadium.
The best other opposition at a time of 1:32mins. The other gold medal was won by Favour Adeju in 50m female breaststroke, while a silver medal was on by Agnes John in 100m female backstroke.
Mrs Ogundipe who accompanied her son to Ilorin from Lagos said she was happy that Oluwasemilore made her and his daddy proud with his sterling performance at a national competition.
“I’m so happy that he made us proud,” an excited Mrs Ogundipe said.
She revealed that the victory didn’t come on a platter of gold as he has been on constant training in the last two and a half years that her son had been introduced to swimming.
“He trains regularly in the school, at Ikoyi Club and the National Stadium. I think whatever one is doing in this life, hard work and commitment will make you excel. I’m so glad that all his training and hardworking do not go in vain. He has a gold medal to show for it in the last two and a half years with active competitive training,” she said.
Ogundipe revealed that going forward, Oluwasemilore would continue to train as he has some international tournaments lined up for him between now and next year.
“He will be going to one of his school’s competition in Dubai and another one in Guinea where he will be representing Nigeria. He also has a tournament in Germany next year. He would keep on training,” she said.
On how Oluwasemilore has been able to meet up with the training exigencies and going for tournaments.
“God has been supporting his cause through self sponsorship, great assistance from Ikoyi Club and anytime he is on national assignment, the government picked the bills,” she said.
Speaking on the level of support Oluwasemilore has been getting from the parents, Mrs Ogundipe said: “We have been there for him since he picked interest in swimming and there has been no regret since them. I have been given him motherly support, physically taking him to train and this trip to Ilorin is another kind of motivation for him to do well. At times, he would miss some birthday parties so that he could meet up with his training schedules. He trains regularly, even early in the morning he has to go for training. I and his dad pray for his spiritual wellbeing as well,” she said.
