‘Dare to dream’: Sean Aigboboh competes in NCAA regional with newfound confidence

Houston freshman sprinter Sean Aigboboh was usually the fastest person around when he was growing up and training in Ireland. He only got to test himself against Europe’s best a few times each year, so he kept his ambitions and dreams more reserved.

However, Aigboboh was prepared to take the next step when he received a call from 10-time Olympic medalist and now track & field coach Carl Lewis, inviting him to compete for the Cougars.

“I felt it was the right place for me to grow and develop in the long term,” Aigboboh said.

When he came to Houston in the summer of 2025, Aigboboh quickly noticed a difference between him and his teammates. Everyone had a high sense of confidence, unlike any he had seen before.

“Seeing the way they think and the way they have this sort of dare to dream, this sort of confidence and belief in themselves to the point where you would think to yourself, ‘How can you say this out loud?’” Aigboboh said. “When I came here, my mindset was a lot more passive, more of a quiet confidence sort of thing.”

UH’s sprinting team includes many successful sprinters at various levels, including senior Louie Hinchcliffe, who was the NCAA champion in the 100-meter dash in 2024 and a member of Great Britain’s silver medal 4×100 team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“Being surrounded by those people has allowed me to have more audacious and ambitious goals,” Aigboboh said, “It’s really helped me step up my mindset, and I’m a lot more confident now in my abilities and a lot more driven.”

Aigboboh joined Houston’s 4×100 relay team that captured the conference title at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships with the sixth-fastest time in the nation. He is now preparing to compete at the NCAA West Prelims in Fayetteville, Ark, where he will race with the relay team as well as in the 100 and 200 meters.

Before coming to Houston, he had never competed in the 200-meter, despite it being customary for sprinters to run both of the main sprinting events.

Lewis took a risk on him, and on April 30, 2026, at the Cameron Burrell Invitational meet, Aigboboh ran a time of 20.27, a personal best which put him at No. 2 in the NCAA rankings for the event.

The time was also good enough to break the Irish national record for the 200 meters, a record that stood for nearly 20 years.

“I couldn’t believe I had actually done it, it was something I knew I could do and I knew I was going to do,” Aigboboh said, “ It was just very different actually seeing it on the clock actually happen.”

Aigboboh was immediately met with praise from all over, receiving calls and texts from family and friends back home, as well as from media outlets all over Ireland and the U.S., who shared his accomplishment.

That time qualified him for the NCAA West Regional, which begins May 27, giving him a chance to punch a ticket to the NCAA Championships in three events, including one he had never competed in a year earlier.

Aigboboh was someone who chose to move in silence. Now, he has embraced the confidence needed to put himself on the path to even greater success.

Looking back, Aigboboh said if he could speak with his former self, he “would tell him not to set any limits, and be far more ambitious.”