The coach of Bayelsa’s swimming team, Gentle Offoin, says the team has surpassed its expectations at the ongoing 20th National Sports Festival (NSF), Edo 2020.
Offoin told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Edo on Friday, that nobody could stop Bayelsa in any swimming event after this NSF.
The coach said the team’s success so far at the ongoing Edo 2020 was not magic, but due to hard work and the support of the state government.
“Our success here is not magic, it is the training. We spent a lot of time training and training, even when the festival was postponed.
“We kept training and at the end we got the result.
“Our expectation for the festival was to win 10 gold medals, so far, we have nine and this is just the fifth day of the NSF and we hope to surpass our expectation,” he said.
He added that the team hoped to win more medals before the end of the swimming event, and that the had achieved more than what it planned for Edo.
“After this festival, nobody can stop Bayelsa State in any swimming event. We will be progressing from here.
“We already have a programme lined up for our swimmers. We are also building up the young ones.
“The support of the governor has also been a contributing factor of our achievement. The state got the best in sports when he was a commissioner for sport, now that he is the governor, the best is expected,”he said.
NAN reports that Bayelsa has so far won a total of 23 medals, comprising nine gold, six silver and eight bronze, in the swimming event at the ongoing NSF. (NAN)
