By Bockarie Kamara

Swimming has been Bobson Mansaray’s life for over forty years. It is where he learned discipline, resilience, leadership and respect for the water.

The Sierra Leone Aquatics (Sierra Leone Swimming, Diving and Water Polo Association) was founded in Freetown on 10 June 1979. Bobson Mansaray began swimming in 1983 at the age of seven, shortly after the National Stadium Swimming Pool was opened.

He was raised in the founding era by the pioneers who built the sport from nothing, including Dr. Recab, Dr. A.T. Falu Deen, Michael Collier and Victor Hastings Spaine. Their leadership shaped his foundation in swimming.

He was coached by the late Dr. K.K. Bangura, Sierra Leone’s first National Swimming Coach, who was educated in Germany and served as Head of Physical Health Education at Milton Margai Teachers College. His assistant coach, Mr. Ibrahim Conteh, and the late Arthur Brown, the last coach to work at the National Sports Council, also played major roles in his development.

These men taught him discipline, technique and respect for the water.

In 1990, he qualified for the All Africa Games in Cairo, Egypt, a milestone that confirmed his place among Sierra Leone’s top swimmers.

The defining moment of his career came in 1996, during the national trials for the Atlanta Olympic Games, which he competed in and won.

Bobson Mansaray represented Sierra Leone at the Islamic Games in Tehran, Iran, in 2000, where he served as team captain.

A Decade Coaching in the Middle East

In 2000, he moved to Dubai to begin a decade-long international coaching career across the Middle East. His roles included:

• Head Coach, Hilton Resort Club
• Head Coach, The Club (British Club)
• Coach, Abu Dhabi Health & Fitness Club
• Volunteer Coach, Al Jazira Swimming Club

He also worked as a lifeguard and beach attendant, gaining deep experience in safety, risk management and emergency response, and completed the British Swimming Teachers Course.

Watching from afar, he became concerned about drowning incidents at the National Stadium Swimming Pool due to poor management and a lack of trained personnel. He knew he had to return.

“Finding Swimming”: Rebuilding the Sport from the Ground Up

In 2010, he returned to Sierra Leone with his own funds, equipment and hands to clean, repair and refill the National Stadium Swimming Pool, which had been severely damaged and closed to the public. This effort became known as “Finding Swimming”, a grassroots project that reintroduced swimming to schools and communities across Sierra Leone.

Through Finding Swimming, he scouted and developed every major swimmer Sierra Leone has sent to the world stage, including:

• Osman Kamara (Susan’s Bay) — Rio 2016 Olympian (50m Freestyle, 26.90s), trained in the Orogu Bridge River
• Bintu Rabie Jalloh & Ruth Turay (Annie Walsh Memorial), Ishmael Koroma, Joshua Wyse, Sheku Bangura — World Championships, Commonwealth Games and All Africa Games
• Isha Kanu, Morris Beale (Homeless Child), Gibrilla Kanu Bamba (product of the swimming pool), Saidu Kamara (Susan’s Bay)
• Ibrahim Kamara, Joshua Wyse — Commonwealth Games 2026 prospects

He also introduced swimming as a practical subject in schools including St. Edward’s, Prince of Wales, Annie Walsh, FSSG, Grammar School and Brotherhood School. Communities like Susan’s Bay became part of the national swimming story.

One of his proudest achievements was leading Sierra Leone to its first-ever relay medals — historic bronze medals in the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle and 4x100m Medley Relay at the 5th African Zone 2 Championships.

He recruited and mentored coaches such as Sheku Conteh (now in the USA) and Coach Habib (now in France).

A major setback occurred when stadium management attempted to convert the development program into a public swimming operation for profit. When he refused to compromise the integrity and safety of the program, he was removed from the pool.

Swimming is a specialised sport. It requires technical knowledge, coaching experience and safety expertise.

From Australia to the Olympic Stage

His journey continued in Australia, where he served as:

• Coach, Genesis Swimming School (2022–2023)
• Head Coach, Hunting Tower Swimming Club (2023–2024)
• Head Coach, Bega Valley Shire Council Swimming Program (2024–2026)

He built disciplined, inclusive squad structures and prepared athletes for New South Wales and Australian Age Championships. He also completed the International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Program (ICECP), sponsored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the National Olympic Committee of Sierra Leone (NOC-SL). His ICECP project became the Sierra Leone Aquatic Coaching & Teaching Development Program (SLACTDP), a national framework for training swim teachers, coaches and aquatic personnel, both local and international.

Bobson Mansaray has coached at the highest level, including:

• Olympic Games, Rio 2016
• FINA World Championships, Barcelona 2013 & Istanbul 2012
• Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast 2018

Bobson Mansaray has lived every chapter of this sport: athlete, coach, lifeguard, mentor, administrator, builder and reformer, a combined total of seventeen to eighteen years in leadership.

A Vision for a Water-Safe Nation

His vision is to build a water-safe nation with a transparent, athlete-centred swimming program that develops champions, protects children and restores integrity by:

• Preventing drowning, the third-leading cause of accidental death worldwide
• Building physical fitness and mental wellbeing
• Creating employment for lifeguards, swimming teachers, swimming coaches and pool technicians
• Driving community development and opening international scholarships for athletes and technical swimming officials

Achieving this, he says, requires:

• A national Learn-to-Swim program
• Mandatory safety training for coaches and teachers
• Certified lifeguards at all venues
• Proper pool management and national drowning-prevention programs in schools and public pools

Bobson Mansaray rebuilt swimming in Sierra Leone once already, without funding, without support and without recognition. He is ready to rebuild it again, properly and for the benefit of every swimmer in Sierra Leone.