Esther Toko: Canoeist-turned-Nigeria's top rower hoping to return to the Olympic Games 

As a kid, when the closing bell rang in school, Esther Toko would march to the lagoons, riversides, and beaches in Lagos, Nigeria, with friends to swim, despite the stern scoldings people hurled at them to return home.

Her love for the water has honed her into one of Nigeria’s finest rowers.

Her relationship with the water dates back to her parents' origins. Her mother hails from the oil-rich Delta State in Nigeria, and her dad from Ondo State.

"If you hail from Delta State and Ondo State, you will be taught how to swim." At least that is what Toko tells Olympics.com.

“My mum taught me how to swim,” Toko begins. “For us, it is like a rite of passage and part of our local culture.”

In 2014, Toko and six other friends officially joined the Nigeria Rowing, Canoeing, and Sailing Federation. Toko first began canoeing, just like her friends.

“My sister, Lilian Japhart, introduced my friends and me to canoeing,” Toko recalls.

In Nigeria, the rowing and canoeing teams train together but Toko did not engage in the former to start. She represented Nigeria in the 2015 Canoe Sprint World Championships which were an Olympic qualifier, but was unable to attain a Rio 2016 spot.

Despite the setback, she tried to learn from the losses to paint a better future for herself in the sport, representing Nigeria in canoeing and kayaking at the 2016 African Championships. There, she won her a gold and three silver medals in canoeing and kayaking.

Esther Toko's big career switch

Although she had already started charting a name for herself in canoeing, Toko took a career-altering decision to switch to rowing.

“My decision to pursue boat rowing came about when I couldn’t participate in a youth tournament in Algeria (the 2018 African Youth Games) because my age didn’t fall within the age limit," Toko recalls. "So my coach suggested I join the rowing team and give it a try.

"It was easy yes for me because the canoe and rowing teams trained together, and I felt I could do it because my coach motivated me to go into it."

There aren’t many women boat rowers in Nigeria, and Toko’s decision to join the rowing team continued a trail blazed by the country’s first rower Chierika Ukogu Clements, who competed at Rio 2016.

Toko's rowing debut rowing officially came in Côte d'Ivoire, where she represented her country at the West African Rowing Regional Regatta and won silver. She built on that momentum at the 2019 African Beach Games in Cabo Verde, where she added silver and bronze to her display of medals.

“After winning those medals, my interest in rowing was piqued,” she says.

Nigerian coach dreams of scholarships for rower Toko

Coach Regina Enofe has been the national coach for the Nigerian rowing team since 2017. She transitioned from being a swim coach to coaching rowing because she “loved the challenge and felt the need to try something else,” Enofe says.

It was Enofe who saw the potential in Toko and recruited her into the rowing team in 2018.

“If you look at an athlete, you will know this one is better in this area than the other. When I saw her physique and her performances, I saw that she can do better in rowing than canoeing,” the coach explains.

At the 2023 African Beach Games in Tunis, Toko won a bronze medal in the women's coastal solo beach sprint. Enofe describes it as a fantastic feeling seeing the effort her athlete put in at the event.

However, her heart sinks because she wants more for Toko. Her dream is to see Toko gain an international scholarship to improve her skills and attain a higher level of education.

“I need a scholarship for Esther. I want people to come to her aid and give her a scholarship because she can perform better than she is doing now. If she is given this opportunity, she will go to do greater things, I believe,” Enofe shares.

Obstructions and hurdles for Esther Toko and Nigerian rowing

Rowing is an expensive sport, with a competitive rowing boat falling within the cost range of $1,500-$15,000 US dollars.

For a sport relatively nascent in Nigeria, athletes are bearing the brunt of having only a handful of boats for training.

“We have a lot of challenges, especially with the boats. The boats we are using, there are not enough to serve the many athletes we have to train.

“We also need people to help us with funding our sport. We see other sports being sponsored by brands but we don’t have anything. The government cannot do it alone,” Enofe emphasises.

The rowing team’s training centre in Lekki, near to Lagos, was demolished last year for refurbishment so they had to transfer all the boats to the Nigerian capital Abuja where some of the athletes travel to for training. For those less well-off who are unable to train, the only option was to stay behind and train alone.

According to Enofe, the training centre is ready for use again, but the national federation is struggling with how to transport the boats back from Abuja.

“You know, our sport is very expensive. If you want to move a boat from Abuja to Lagos, you will spend 300,000 Naira (around $380 US dollars) and that is a lot for us. So we are in need of funds to bring the boats back for training.”

Frequently travelling from Lagos to Abuja to train has been daunting for Toko and has equally affected her finances. She juggles running her clothing business with training as a professional rower.

“Sometimes I feel like giving up but then I remember I went all the way to the Olympics. So I dwell on that to push myself.

"When I feel down, it is my mum that keeps telling me to keep going and it shall be good one day. When I don’t have enough money for the training she sends me some just so I don’t give up on my dream,” Toko says.

Away from rowing, Toko harbours a passionate aspiration to become a lawyer in the future, but does not currently have the means to realise her dream. While she hopes that will come true, at least on the water, she has an escape.

African Olympic qualifiers for rowing take place in October 2023 – and Esther is keen on earning a second go at the Olympic Games. Will she make it to Paris 2024?