Jason Dunford

Jason Edward Dunford (born November 28, 1986 in Nairobi) is a swimmer from Kenya. He is predominantly a butterfly and freestyle sprinter. He is an African champion, All-Africa Games gold medalist, World Championships finalist, and Olympics finalist. Many of his achievements are unprecedented in the history of Kenyan swimming. He belongs to the White minority in Kenya.

Family life

Jason is the son of Martin and Geraldine Dunford. Martin Dunford is the Chairman of the Tamarind Group, which owns the famous Carnivore Restaurant [World Investment News, June 18, 1999: " [http://www.winne.com/kenya/to24.html Interview with Mr. Martin Dunford] "] , Geraldine, granddaughter to the famous Abraham Block, founder of Block Hotels is the marketing executive. Martin is also the vice chairman of the Kenya Swimming Federation and the patron of the Nairobi Amateur Swimming Association (NASA) Daily Nation, July 14, 2007: " [http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=5&newsid=102275 ALL AFRICA GAMES: Dunford proves his mettle] "] .

He has two brothers, Robert and David. The elder, Robert, is a graduate of the London School of Economics where he was captain of the Rugby Club. The younger brother, David, is also a swimmer and represents Kenya.

Early career

Jason Dunford started swimming at the age of five and it was while at Kenton College, a primary school in Nairobi, under coach Andrew Nderu, that he began to establish himself on the age group scene in Nairobi.b] . At the age of 13, the talented swimmer moved to study at Marlborough College (a high school) in the United Kingdom [Swimnews.com, March 26, 2007: " [http://www.swimnews.com/News/displayStory.jhtml?id=5163 A Tale Of Hope Out Of Africa] "] . It was here that he met coach Peter O'Sullivan, himself a former Great Britain International Swimmer in the 400 m Individual medley. O'Sullivan had swum at the University of Georgia, and it was he who encouraged Jason to look to college in the US to develop his swimming career. After finishing his A-Levels, Dunford moved to Stanford University in the United States where he earned a swimming scholarship. He is pursuing a major in Human biology Stanford University: " [http://gostanford.cstv.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/dunford_jason00.html Jason Dunford] "] .

Continental top

At the 2006 African Swimming Championships in Dakar, Senegal, he became the first Kenyan ever to win a continental swimming medal with gold in the 100m butterfly on the first day of competition. He went on to finish the competition with two gold medals (100m butterfly and 50m backstroke), three silvers (50m butterfly, 100m and 200m freestyle) and one bronze (50m freestyle)b] . He also broke a number of national records. His younger brother David Dunford also performed very well, winning two golds and one silver (100m backstroke, 200m backstroke and 50m backstroke) ["Stanford University: [http://gostanford.cstv.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/dunford_david00.html David Dunford] "] .

His success in 2006 earned him second place in the Kenyan Sportsman of the Year award, behind Alex Kipchirchir, one of Kenya's many world-class runners. His brother David Dunford was selected as the Most Promising Sportsman at the same awards [The Standard February 23, 2007 [http://www.eastandard.net/archives/cl/hm_news/news_s.php?articleid=1143965206&date=23/2/2007 "Kipchirchir, Jepkosgei named Soya winners"] ] .

Dunford participated in several races at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. His best result was reaching a 100m butterfly final, where he finished eighth. On his way to final, he clocked 51.85 [" [http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2007/melbourne2007/Book_All_Results.pdf Melbourne 2007 Swimming results] "] , a new African record The Standard, July 13, 2007: " [http://www.eastandard.net/archives/cl/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143971249&date=13/7/2007 Dunford bags Kenya’s first gold in Algeria] "] to beat Commonwealth Games Champion, Ryan Pini of Papua New Guinea in a swim-off for the 8th spot in the final. He also became the first Kenyan swimmer to qualify for the Olympics, gaining qualification for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China in the 100m butterfly as well as the 100m freestyle. On earlier occasions, some Kenyan swimmers have participated in the Olympics, but only on the IOC swimming wild card b] .

At the 2007 All-Africa Games Jason Dunford won three gold medals (50m, 100m and 200m butterfly), two silver (50m freestyle, 100m backstroke) and three bronze (50m backstroke, 100m and 200 m freestyle) [ [http://www.coja2007.dz 2007 All-Africa Games] ] . For his efforts at these games and the Melbourne World Championships, Dunford was awarded the Safaricom Kenyan Sportsman of the Year Award for 2007The Standard, March 20, 2008: " [http://www.eastandard.net/archives/index.php?mnu=details&id=1143983188&catid=247 Dunford, Jepkosgei Soya Winners] "] .

At the 2008 Olympics he competed in two events. In the 100 metre freestyle heats, he finished 24th overall, missing the semifinals. He did, however, set a new national record of 49.06 [ [http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73A1/SWM011904.shtml#SWM011904 2008 Olympics 100 metres freestyle results] ] .

In his main event, the 100 metre butterfly, he qualified for the semifinals, posting a new Olympic record of 51.14, and simultaneously bettering his own African record. The previous Olympic record (51.25) was set by Michael Phelps at the 2004 Olympics [ [http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73A1/SWM021907.shtml#SWM021907 2008 Olympics, 100 metres butterfly results - Heat 7] ] . Dunford's Olympic record did not last long; just a few minutes later Milorad Čavić of Serbia recorded 50.76, followed by two other swimmers (including Phelps) who beat Dunford's time [ [http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73A1/SWM021909.shtml#SWM021909 2008 Olympics, 100 metres butterfly - Heat 9] ] . He reached the final and finished fifth by swimming 51.47 [ [http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73A1/SWM021101.shtml#SWM021101 2008 Olympics - 100m butterfly final results] ] .

References