Jeremy Mutwii Rieck began swimming at age seven.
A decade later, the talented 16-year-old is making a splash on the international stage, achieving something only one other Kenyan swimmer has managed before.
Rieck became only the second Kenyan swimmer, after Jason Dunford, to reach a major international swimming final, either at junior or senior level.
At the Dakar Aquatic Centre, located at the Complexe Tour de l'Oeuf, he made his biggest impression in the butterfly events, qualifying for the finals of both the men's 100m and 50m butterfly.
His first final came in the 100m butterfly, where he qualified after clocking 56.14 seconds in the heats. He returned to post a personal best 55.51 seconds in the final, finishing a credible sixth. Egypt’s Zain Ali won the race in 52.16 seconds.
"It was very tough. The competition was very hard, but I made the best out of it. I swam a personal best," he said.
Rieck admitted that the water temperature and the open-air swimming pool presented their own challenges, but he was pleased to have made the final in his main event.
In the men's 50m butterfly, he finished third in Heat Five in another personal best time of 25.05 seconds to storm the final, where he clocked 25.07 seconds to finish sixth. Egyptian Ali again won in 24.06 seconds.
Rieck also competed in the men's 100m backstroke, finishing fourth in Heat Four in 59.15 seconds.
Jeremy Rieck competes in the men’s 100-metre butterfly final during the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on November 1, 2026 at Complexe Tour de l'Oeuf in Dakar, Senegal.
Photo credit: Pool
However, his time placed him ninth overall, just 0.42 seconds outside the eighth and final qualifying position.
He is clearly following in the footsteps of Kenya’s greatest swimmer, Dunford.
Dunford wrote history when he became the first Kenya to compete in an Olympics swimming final event. He reached the men’s 100m butterfly final at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, finishing a historic fifth. Dunford in fact broke the world record in the heats with a 51.14 seconds, which however lasted only minutes before it was broken in another heat.
While studying at Marlborough College in the UK under a swimming scholarship, Dunford rose to become the No. 1 ranked under-18 swimmer in both the 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly in that country.
Like Dunford, Rieck is honing his nascent skills in Europe.
He moved to Germany three years ago and is studying at Carl von Weinberg School in Frankfurt, while training at Schwimmgemeinschaft Frankfurt swimming club. At just 17 years old Dunford began representing Kenya on the global stage, competing in the 2004 Fina Short Course World Championships in Indianapolis and the 2005 Fina World Aquatics Championships in Montreal.
Rieck's achievements in Dakar carry their own distinction. By reaching the two finals, he became the first Kenyan swimmer to achieve the feat at a single Youth Olympic Games.
"I didn't know that. The coach told me before that Jason Dunford did that. I should be proud of myself," he said. Rieck believes his participation in Dakar will help change perceptions and show that Kenyan swimmers can also compete on the international stage.
"It's an honour to be part of this, to make Kenyan proud that I'm part of the Olympics and to show that swimmers also have something and that swimmers can perform here. It's nice to do that," he added. His performances in Senegal did not come out of the blue. Earlier this year, Rieck won gold medals in both the 50m and 100m butterfly at the Anoca Zone Five Youth Games in Nairobi, dominating as Dunford did at regional junior events two decades back.
For Rieck, following in the footsteps of such a celebrated swimmer provides inspiration and a reminder of what is possible.
It is just the beginning. His performances in Dakar have given him valuable exposure, but also a clearer picture of the work required to compete at the highest level..
On Sunday, Kenya battled bravely before going down 14-13 to Egypt women’s 3x3 basketball quarter-final match.
