Meet Naima Kankam, The 14-Year-Old Ghanaian Swimming Champion Who Has Won 15 Medals

• Parents often allow their children to choose their hobbies so they can enjoy it and also give it their all
• But for young Naima, her father decided to teach her how to swim and even though she didn't choose it, she loved it and is now a professional swimmer
• The 14-year-old swimmer has over fifteen medals to her name, most of which are gold and silver from winning various swimming competitions

Naima Kankam is a 14-year-old swimmer who has more than 15 medals in her closet, with a lot of them being gold and silver.

She was introduced to swimming by her father, Jeffrey Kankam, whose athletic genes she inherited. Her father was an athlete at Achimota School when he was a student.

He said he introduced all his six children to swimming because they are home-schooled and did not want them to only focus on their books.

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Naima's mother said the flexibility in home-schooling helps the children to practice and also make time for other things.

Naima and her family live in Tesano. She joined the training club at the Tesano Sports Club at a tender age.

Jeffrey said his daughter was not one who loved to train so much but always did well in competitions.

"There was nothing that indicated she was a special swimmer. She joined the club at the Tesano Sports Club but each time she had a competition, particularly her first competition, she was explosive."

Naima trains either in the morning or evening. Her morning training sessions are scheduled for 4:30 am. She then helps her mother in the kitchen to make breakfast for the family. Shortly after this, she jumps right into her books at home.

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Even when she stopped swimming for almost one year, Naima was still close to the pool as she coached the younger swimmers.

Naima tells why she chose swimming over other disciplines

The 14-year-old who started swimming at age eight, said she chose to swim because that was the first discipline she was introduced to.

“Swimming is the first sport I actually ever tried. We were learning how to swim with our father and I was eight years old at that time and from there, we joined Marlins after Raphael Quaye spoke to our father, and it has been like this since then,” she said.

She admitted that even though it is not easy, she makes a schedule and sticks to it so she can have a good balance between her education and swimming.

Naima added that she is committed to seeing through her goals no matter what and that is why she pushes herself to always give her best.

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Watch the video below:

The 3 young Ashley Marnah brothers who want to be professional swimmers

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported on the three Ashley Marnah brothers who want to be professional swimmers even though their father holds a CAF Licence D football coaching certificate from the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

The three boys are Jesse, Francis and Lord. According to them, they chose to swim to make it known to many Ghanaians that it was possible.

The boys train at the Burma Camp Sports Complex with the swimming club, GH Dolphins. Their father has never missed their training session.

Source: YEN.com.gh