ORAN, Algeria — Kenyan swimmer Haniel Kudwoli has won a bronze medal for Kenya at the 2026 Africa Aquatics Swimming Championship after setting a new national record in the men’s 50-metre breaststroke.
Kudwoli clocked 28.62 seconds in the long-course event held in Oran, breaking his previous Kenyan national record of 29.32 seconds set in 2025.
The achievement earned the 20-year-old swimmer a podium finish in the men’s 50m breaststroke category for athletes aged 19 years and above.
Sports journalist Carol Radull congratulated the swimmer in a message shared on X.
“Congrats to Haniel Kudwoli. He won a bronze medal for Kenya at the Africa Aquatics Swimming Championship in Algeria,” she posted.
Born on February 2, 2006, Kudwoli comes from a sporting family and began swimming actively in 2010 at Swim Africa.
His talent later emerged while studying at St. Mary’s School in Nairobi, where coach Gerald Atek recommended him to the Otters Swim Club.
Kudwoli officially joined the club in 2017 and has since specialised in breaststroke competitions under coach Shirley Maina.
The swimmer has steadily built a reputation as one of Kenya’s leading aquatic talents, holding national records in both long-course and short-course breaststroke events.
In 2023, he set a Kenyan short-course 50m breaststroke record of 29.45 seconds before continuing to improve his timings in subsequent competitions.
According to World Aquatics performance records, Kudwoli’s best short-course performance currently stands at 28.27 seconds in a 25-metre pool.
The swimmer has also represented Kenya in several continental and global competitions, including the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest in 2024.
He later competed in long-course events in Singapore in 2025 and is targeting qualification for future global competitions, including the 2028 championships in Los Angeles.
Kudwoli has previously won multiple medals at the CANA Zone III and IV Championships between 2021 and 2022, collecting gold, silver, and bronze medals for Kenya.
He has often credited American swimmer Cody Miller and Kenyan swimmers Jason Dunford and Amar Shah as major inspirations in his career.
The latest performance in Algeria further cements his position among Kenya’s top emerging swimmers on the continental stage.
