Rosafio, Muteti seal tickets to Tokyo Olympics

Kenya Swimming Federation (KSF) has settled on the duo of Danilo Rosafio and Emily Muteti to fly the Kenyan flag in the rescheduled 2020 Olympic games.

The two won the tickets to the coveted games following the directions provided by the international swimming governing body FINA, which were based on the published criteria dated January 27 and further country-specific guidelines issued by FINA on April 14.

The selection was also based on the top-ranking FINA points from FINA qualifying events and the participation in the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwanju, Korea.

Rosafio achieved the top 730 FINA points in 100m freestyle at the FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary, while Emily achieved the top 698 FINA points in 50m freestyle at the 12th African Games in Casablanca, Morocco.

Danilo and Emily continue training with their current programs at the England based Loughborough University and United States' Grand Canyon University respectively.

The swimmers will be accompanied by Abdulmalik Abubakar as the Team Manager and Fakhry Mansoor as the Team Coach.

Danilo’s coach Gareth McNarry lauded his commitment to attaining the qualification time.

“I would like to congratulate Danilo on his selection to his first Olympic Games. I have had the pleasure of working with him since September of 2020 and in that time, Danilo has shown the commitment and dedication to his sport that befits any athlete selected to represent their country at an Olympic Games,"

"It is also only fair that I express my thanks to his former coaches at both Millfield School and the Bandari Swimming Club who provided Danilo with a great foundation from which we have been able to build upon this year. With his selection to Tokyo 2020, Danilo joins a long list of Loughborough University and Loughborough Swimming Olympians, and we at Loughborough wish him every success in Tokyo,” he said.

On the other hand, Muteti’s coach Steve Schaffer said her qualification to the games was a reflection of the hard work she has been putting into training.

“We are very proud of Emily. Representing Kenya at the Olympics is a goal that Emily has worked very hard to make a reality for these past 4 years at GCU and it has been a pleasure to work with her and help her along this path. Emily is an exemplary student and athlete and will represent Kenya honourably,” he said.