Fourteen-year-old Kaya Adwoa Forson is making history as Ghana’s first representative for swimming at the summer Rio Olympic Games. Forson will compete in the women’s 200m freestyle swimming.
As young as Forson is, this is not the first time Forson will be representing Ghana. In 2015 — at just 13 — she became Ghana’s sole representative at the Swimming World Championships in Kazan, Russia. She competed in both the 200m freestyle and the 200m backstroke events, where she placed 66th and 44th, respectively.
Forson may not yet be a world star — many do not consider her a medal hopeful at the current Olympics — but one appears to be definitely in the cards for her future.
At just 14, she is already competing and holding her own against full-grown pro-athletes who are at the peak of their careers, and at the World Championships in Kazan, she was the youngest swimmer.
And for her age group, she consistently places within the top 5 or top 10 in her events. In one such qualifying event toward the Rio Olympics, which featured 296 athletes representing 49 clubs and 21 countries over two days of competition, Forson, again, ranked within the top 10.