Jason Dunford

Family life

Jason is the son of Martin and Geraldine Dunford. Martin Dunford is the Chairman of the Tamarind Group, which owns the Carnivore Restaurant. Geraldine, granddaughter to Abraham Block, the founder of Block Hotels, is the marketing executive. Martin was the vice-chairman of the Kenya Swimming Federation and the patron of the Nairobi Amateur Swimming Association (NASA).

He has two brothers, Robert and David. The elder, Robert, is a graduate of the London School of Economics where he was captain of the rugby club. The younger brother, David, is also a swimmer and represents Kenya. The family belongs to the white minority in Kenya.

On 28 June 2014, he married Lauren Finzer of Albany, California, daughter of William Finzer and Brigid McCaw.

Early career

Jason Dunford started swimming at the age of five and it was while at Kenton College, a primary school in Nairobi, under coach Andrew Nderu, that he began to establish himself on the age group scene in Nairobi. At the age of 13, the talented swimmer moved to study at Marlborough College (a high school) in the United Kingdom.

Dunford competed in various races at the 2004 Short Course World Championships in Indianapolis, and 2005 World Championships in Montreal, but the young swimmer failed to advance past the heats.

While at Marlborough College he met coach Peter O'Sullivan, himself a former Great Britain International Swimmer in the 400 m Individual medley. O'Sullivan had swum at the University of Georgia, and it was he who encouraged Jason to look to college in the US to develop his swimming career. In 2005, After finishing his A-Levels, Dunford moved to Stanford University in the United States where he earned a swimming scholarship. In 2009, he graduated with a BA in Human biology. and in 2012, complete his MS in Earth Systems. He is enrolled in the MBA program at Stanford Graduate School of Business from September 2016-18.

2006–2007 – Continental top

At the 2006 Short Course World Championships in Shanghai he reached semi-finals in two events: 100 metres freestyle and 100 metres butterfly. He missed the 2006 Commonwealth Games due to exams.

The 2006 African Swimming Championships in Dakar, Senegal, marked a breakthrough moment for him as he became the first Kenyan ever to win a continental swimming medal with gold in the 100m butterfly on the first day of competition. He went on to finish the competition with two gold medals (100m butterfly and 50m backstroke), three silvers (50m butterfly, 100m and 200m freestyle) and one bronze (50m freestyle). He also broke a number of national records. His younger brother David Dunford also performed well, winning two golds and one silver (100m backstroke, 200m backstroke and 50m backstroke).

His success in 2006 earned him second place in the Kenyan Sportsman of the Year award, behind Alex Kipchirchir, one of Kenya's many world-class runners. His brother David Dunford was selected as the Most Promising Sportsman at the same awards.

Dunford participated in several races at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. His best result was reaching a 100 m butterfly final, where he finished eighth. On his way to final, he clocked 51.85, a new African record to beat Commonwealth Games Champion, Ryan Pini of Papua New Guinea in a swim-off for the 8th spot in the final. He also became the first Kenyan swimmer to qualify for the Olympics, gaining qualification for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China in the 100m butterfly as well as the 100m freestyle. On earlier occasions, some Kenyan swimmers have participated in the Olympics, but only on the IOC swimming wild card.

At the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algiers Jason Dunford won three gold medals (50m, 100m and 200m butterfly), two silver (50m freestyle, 100m backstroke) and three bronze (50m backstroke, 100m and 200 m freestyle). For his efforts at these games and the Melbourne World Championships, Dunford was awarded the Safaricom Kenyan Sportsman of the Year Award for 2007.

2008–2009 – Olympics and Universiade

He participated the 2008 FINA Short Course World Championships in Manchester in April 2008 and reached the 100m butterfly final, finishing 8th.

At the 2008 Olympics he competed in two events. In the 100-metre freestyle heats, he finished 24th overall, missing the semi-finals. He did, however, set a new national record of 49.06. In his main event, the 100-metre butterfly, he qualified for the semi-finals, posting a new Olympic record of 51.14, and simultaneously bettering his own African record. The previous Olympic record (51.25) was set by Michael Phelps at the 2004 Olympics. Dunford's Olympic record did not last long; just a few minutes later Milorad Čavić of Serbia recorded 50.76, followed by two other swimmers (including Phelps) who beat Dunford's time. He reached the final and finished fifth by swimming 51.47.

In December 2008 at the African Swimming Championships in Johannesburg he won three gold and two silver medals.

His first major competition in 2009 was the Summer Universiade in Belgrade, where he won the 100 metres butterfly race in a time of 51.29s. In the semi-finals he had swum a new Universiade record 50.85s, also beating the African record again. At the 50 metres butterfly race he got silver behind Jernej Godec of Slovenia, but was fastest in the semi-finals, his time 23.09s being new Universiade record, still in force after the final. Dunford was also the bronze medalist over 100 metres freestyle in a time of 48.73.

At the 2009 World Championships he finished sixth in the 50 m butterfly and 100 m butterfly races. In the 100 fly semi-finals he set a new African and Commonwealth record (50.78s). Dunford graduated from the Stanford University in 2009 with BSc degree in Human biology, but studies for master's degree in Earth Systems at the same university

2010 – Commonwealth Games

Dunford continued his continental medal hunting at 2010 African Swimming Championships winning two gold medals in butterfly and two freestyle silver medals.

He competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi taking the 50 m butterfly gold medal. It was the first swimming medal for Kenya at the Commonwealth Games.

2011– World Championships and All Africa Games

Dunford placed 4th in the 100m butterfly and 7th in the 50m butterfly at the Shanghai World Championships.

Then at the All Africa Games in Maputo he won gold medals in the 50 and 100m butterfly, silvers in the 50m backstroke, 100m freestyle and 200m butterfly and a bronze in the 50m freestyle.

2012 Summer Olympics

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Dunford competed in the men's 100 m butterfly only, finishing in 12th place. He was also Kenya's flagbearer.

2014 Commonwealth Games

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Dunford reached the final in the 50 and 100 m butterfly. After representing Kenya for just shy of a decade, this was his final international competition.

Retirement

In spring 2017, Jason briefly came out of retirement during a study trip to South Africa. At the Kwa Maritane Bush Lodge in Pilanesberg, he faced Sam "The Slammin' Salmon" Byker in a 25m butterfly. Jason was heavily favored, and true to form, he won by a full body length. Following this dominant performance, rumors spread of a potential return to competitive swimming in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He also performed with a highly trained dance troupe, executing body rolls, pause penguins, and several other complex moves. Before returning to his studies at Stanford, he shared fantastic jokes, including one about a scarecrow. It's unclear at this time if this will lead to a career in comedy.