By Oscar Pilipili

Kenya’s fortunes at African Swimming Championships in South Africa could be curtailed by an imminent departure of Jason Dunford .

The 21-year-old biology student at Stanford University in the US will abandon the event midway today to honour an academic timetable.

"Masomo ni muhimu na kwa hivyo mpaka niende kusoma," (Education is important, I must study) he said in fluent Kiswahili.

"My departure is not a surprise because it was planned in advance together with the Kenya Swimming Federation who entered me in few events," he told FeverPitch in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

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Outstanding

Jason Dunford celebrates after breaking a swimming record at the Beijing Olympics. Photo: File

The 21-year-old is an outstanding figure in the Kenyan squad and he is responsible for three medals of the four the team won in the first two days of the competition on Tuesday.

He won two gold (50m back and 100m fly) plus silver (200m free) with starlet Achieng’ Ajulu-Bushell claiming bronze (100m free) that went down in history books as the first ever by a Kenyan woman at the continental level.

Team manager Winnie Kamau insisted Dunford’s departure would not affect the performance of the team.

"Our target is to surpass the nine-medal record we set in Senegal and I don’t think his (Jason’s) absence would curtail our efforts," Kamau said.

"All our swimmers are in action today and the results will definitely be a pointer towards our overall performance in the Championships," she said shortly before Wednesday’s finals.

"Our relay team should be able to win us a medal because only four countries have entered teams and this means they need to beat just one team to clinch a medal," she added.

First kenyan

Dunford became the first Kenyan ever to win a continental swimming medal with gold in the 100m butterfly at the 2006 African Championships in Senegal.

He finished that competition with two gold, three silver anda bronze medal.

Jason and his brother David won all of Kenya’s nine medals in that competition.

He also admitted to FeverPitch in a telephone interview on Wednesday that he is feeling the absence of his brother David at the Championships.

The two have lived closely since childhood and swam together in virtually all the major events, including the Beijing Olympics.

First heroic show

Their first heroic show was in the 2006 African Championship in Senegal, where they won nine medals between them.

Jason said: "I think it could be well with him here because we feel comfortable when competing together."

"He could have travelled, but he currently has a very tough academic class and no time for swimming," he said of the missing half of Dunfords’ swimming act.

He expressed dissatisfaction over the quality of the competition saying it was below expectation.

"Some of the top guys we were expecting here including South Africans have opted for World Cup Circuit," he said.

"Algeria that is one of the countries with great swimmers have only brought one participant and Egyptians are conspicuously missing," he said.

The gifted athlete said despite the shortcomings, his target was to "swim good times and win medals".

He revealed that he was not in good shape to chase any record at the Championships.

"I’ve got to keep on training heavily before I start to think of targeting records because my body is not strong at the moment due to much travelling," he said.

Jason’s next major event is the World Championships to be held in Rome, Italy next year.