Already this Friday, a new athlete from Nigeria, 18-year-old Collins Obi Ebingha, joined our Scholarship holders team. His arrival in Kazan was delayed for a short time, given all the difficulties with international travel and the new anti-epidemic rules.

But the whole long-drawn-out story came to an end and our long-awaited guest came to Kazan smoothly.

Collins himself shared his expectations about joining the FINA Development Center's Scholarship Program, as well as about Russia and Kazan in general:

"My joining in FINA Development center was delayed for 3 months and you can't imagine how happy I am after I landed at the Kazan airport. I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me, because I have set myself the biggest and most ambitious tasks. I really want to become a great swimmer for the African continent and represent my country Nigeria in the Olympic Games with dignity. I specialize in freestyle, as well as in butterfly.

My path to a swimming career is not the easiest, because I grew up in the village and started swimming in the local river, but now I am a member of my national team with national and competition records. So I think that I am on the right track and the FINA development scholarship program will allow me to develop all my professional qualities.

So far, I haven't seen anything in Kazan. But on the photos and my view from the window, I can see that everything is very neat and clean. I am sure that there will be more time to get to know everything better. I can't wait to start the training process with my new team…"

Indeed, the path for Collins was not very fast, but we are happy to see him in the ranks, because from Monday he will start a training regime with the team.