Fresh from breaking the national 50m breaststroke record at the Speedo Invitational Championship in Dubai on Sunday, Haniel Kudwoli has set his sights on next month's Africa Junior Championship in Mauritius.
The teenage sensation clocked 29.45 to erase the previous mark of 29.75 by Jason Dunford in 2010.
Kudwoli finished second at the event, behind England’s Oscar Bilbao, who clocked 28.35 seconds. Irish swimmer Omar Tillal was third in 30.08.
The Kenyan swimmer signed up for the Speedo Invitational after missing out on the Junior World Championships which were held in Netanya, Israel in September since Kenya were still serving a World Aquatics suspension.
“Breaking a record is no small thing, especially from a great swimmer like Jason. I am now looking forward to winning medals at the African event by beating the top swimmers on the continent,” said Kudwoli.
The Mauritius event will also be used as a qualifier for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and Kudwoli is hopeful of securing his slot in Team Kenya.
"It will be an honour to qualify for the Olympics but I am focusing on one event at a time. At the moment, I am relishing the challenge of competing against the best in Africa,” observed Kudwoli.
Kudwoli said the lifting of the WA suspension has given Kenyan swimmers a big boost.
"As swimmers, we are delighted. We missed some of the big events in the last couple of years but now we are back,” he said.
Elsewhere, Team Kenya finished third overall at the Africa Aquatics Zone 3 championships in Kigali on Saturday.
Kenya bagged 1843.5 points behind overall winners Uganda (3206 points) while Tanzania were second ( 2753 points). Hosts Rwanda finished fourth with 1348 points, Burundi fifth with 1291 points and South Africa finished sixth with 622 points.
Kenya finished third in the Women's category with 1075 points with Uganda leading the standings with 1427 points. Tanzania were second with 1244 points.
The boys finished fifth with 712 points. Uganda led with 1725 points followed by Tanzania ( 1462 ) and Rwanda ( 769).