Kenya’s Rugby 7s player Dennis Ombachi divided opinion of Kenyans on Twitter (KOT) on Sunday after he posted a video in which he wildly tosses his baby boy into a swimming pool.

The Olympian, famous online for his culinary skills, is seen dangling his son precariously on one leg before tossing him into a swimming pool supposedly to show off his swimming skills.

The boy can be seen splashing the water wildly then fighting frantically to get his bearing in the water before managing to turn over and swim on his back while gasping for breath.


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“4 weeks since we started water safety classes and my son graduated today, officially WATER SAFE! Last class he get to go in with 4 layers of clothing including two diapers, more than doubling his weight in water. Proud father ????????????,” Ombachi captioned the video.


He accompanied the controversial video with another of his Asian wife pushing into the pool their eight-month baby, who struggles for a moment before turning to face up and swim.

“Graduating as well was our 8 month old daughter, officially the only one who can’t swim in here ????????????,” he added.

However, majority of KOT were not amused by his actions which they found dangerous to the health and life of the young child, while a sizeable number of Kenyans on Twitter rushed to defend his actions saying they would help the boy learn water safety.

Here is a sample of the reaction:

Ombachi, in a social media thread last year, announced that he was bipolar and had opted to step away from what he described as the “hustle and bustle” of the rugby sevens circuit.

He later informed his national team coach Innocent Simiyu about his mental health struggles before the World Cup Sevens in 2018 and urged those going through similar tribulations to seek readily available help.

Dennis Ombachi. PHOTO/COURTESY

The Kenya rugby sevens international, who played in the 2016 Olympics, took a break from top-level sport after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder which is known to cause extreme mood swings but he has been managing the intrusive condition well.

He told a local media house that he found that showing off his self-taught cooking skills to his more than 180,000 followers on Twitter and Instagram provided one way of dealing with his disorder.

“My coping mechanism was the internet, and it is where I developed my passion for cooking. Travelling to all these countries you get to eat different foods,” he said.

Ombachi, however, has remained optimistic that one day he will return to high-level rugby after dealing with more than four major injuries and surgeries during his illustrious career.