Swimming: Inaya, the new star of the pool

By setting two new national records in the 50 metres freestyle (34 seconds) and the 4 x 400 metres freestyle (7 minutes) in the girls' minimes categories at the 8th Africa Zone 3 swimming championship in Dakar in June 2022, Diaby Inaya Paulette ended a 25-year wait. Above all, she consigned to the history books the records held by Lasme Meledje over 400 metres (7 min 37 seconds) and over 50 metres (37 seconds), which dated back to 1998.

Adding to that feat are her recent performances in the pool at the Lycée Américain d'Abidjan, which yielded four new medals, two gold and two silver.

The BEPC, her other goal

These achievements only add to the conviction that the Assohou Groupe swimmer is a major prospect. Much more reserved in her life as a schoolgirl, and a BEPC candidate this year, the young pupil expresses herself more in the pool. "I dream of becoming a great champion. I work hard with my coaches and every competition is a chance for me to improve," says the new darling of the pool. Yet nothing suggested she would reach such a level of performance, especially as swimming was nothing more than a therapy to help her keep her asthma attacks under control, if not overcome them.

Although her first contacts with the water were marked by wariness, Inaya gradually managed to tame her fear of the pool and turn it into an ally. Since then, she has been achieving great things."She quickly took to it and progressed at a phenomenal speed. Above all, she showed a great ability to pick up swimming techniques faster than we expected," says her coach, Abi Fabrice. In his view, Inaya Diaby has all the qualities of a great champion, and her results day in, day out bear that out. She is now eyeing a scholarship to keep moving up the levels. But before that, she will need to keep her head above water to have any hope of securing her BEPC diploma this year.

Kader G