Abeku Jackson Powers Into 50m Butterfly Semi-Finals as Ghana’s Medal Hopes Stay Alive

Ghanaian swimmer Abeku Jackson kept Team Ghana’s Commonwealth Games medal aspirations alive after securing a place in the men’s 50m butterfly semi-finals with a strong performance in Tuesday’s heats, while teammate Unilez Takyi exited the women’s 50m freestyle competition.

Jackson finished fourth in Heat 7 in 24.11 seconds, improving on his entry time of 24.22 seconds to earn automatic qualification for the semi-finals. The performance ranked him 14th overall among 70 competitors, highlighting his consistency against one of the strongest sprint butterfly fields in the competition.

The Ghanaian will now seek to build on his encouraging campaign after earlier setting a new national record in the 100m butterfly, despite narrowly missing a semi-final place in that event.

Canada’s Joshua Liendo topped the qualifying times with 23.66 seconds, ahead of Australia’s Cam McEvoy and England’s Jacob Peters, who both recorded 23.74 seconds, setting up a highly competitive semi-final.

There was disappointment, however, for Unilez Takyi, whose Commonwealth Games campaign in the women’s 50m freestyle ended after she finished seventh in her heat in 27.13 seconds, missing out on qualification.

Her heat was won by Halle Harris of Sierra Leone in 26.01 seconds, followed by Ella Justice of the Isle of Man (26.38) and Tilly Collymore of Grenada (26.83).

With Takyi’s challenge over, Ghana’s focus now shifts squarely to Jackson, whose progress into the semi-finals keeps the country’s hopes of reaching a swimming final—and potentially the medal podium—firmly alive in Glasgow.