All is set for the CANA Zone 3 Championship due at the Kampala International School of Uganda (KISU) pool on December 9 to  12.

The championship has attracted 175 swimmers from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Eritrea, and Burundi.

With 90 swimmers Uganda has the biggest number of entries comprising two teams A&B.

The swimmers will compete in the 12&under, 13-14, 15-16, and 17 and over age categories.

Speaking to the press during the launch of the championship at UOC premises on Tuesday, USF president Moses Mwase told the press that Uganda will field two teams but only Team A comprised of 44 swimmers will score points that will count towards the championship. Team B is intended to give the Ugandan swimmers that qualified as 3rd and 4th placed candidates as much opportunities and exposure as possible.

“Against all odds, we have ensured that this event goes on this year and we thank God who has enabled us to put the many pieces together. We have had a lot of support from our partners and sponsors that include the government, the Ministry of Education and Sports, parliament corporate sponsors; DStv, Airtel, Umeme, Madhivani Group among others,” Mwase said.

“Other key development partners like FINA, CANA, NCS, have been also influential in ensuring the success of the event,” Mwase noted

“We were expecting swimmers from South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe who had all confirmed but pulled out later due to incidences that happened in Uganda,”

He said that their calendar was totally messed up but worked hard with different partners like DStv, Airtel, Umeme, and Madhivani Group among others to ensure Uganda hosts the event for the second time since 2015.

Joseph Kabogozza the team manager of the Ugandan team said there is a big balance in the boys’ team and has high hopes in the 13-14 years category. Team A has 44 swimmers and he hopes the numbers will make a difference in determining who wins the championship.

“The coaches have done a great job with the swimmers and they are highly motivated, well trained a ready for this event,” USF Vice president Tonny Kasujja noted.

He thanked the parents for ensuring the swimmers remained in shape.

Coach Eric Kisero was also optimistic about a good show from his water polo team.

“In zone 3 it’s Uganda on the top both at the development and competition stages. We shall have mixed teams of 6 boys and 2 girls on each team we are trying to promote the participation of the girls. We are ready and hope Tanzania and Kenya can raise teams for the first time,” Kisero stated.

Swimmers; Ampaire Namanya, Hitesh Usadadiya, Khyati Deshpande, Swagia Mubiru, and Fridah Nakafu all exuded confidence about Uganda’s chances in the championship.

Uganda lacks depth in the 16&over girls' category and will miss many points because of that but will hope to maximize from other age groups.

“For the U-12, I feel very confident because of what happened in the national championships where we had many swimmers performing well especially with many records having been broken. I’m quite confident for team Uganda in this particular category,” Usadadiya said.

“I can’t wait to put out my best because we have trained well,” Nakafu added.

Samora Lumonya said the 17 and over group remains one of the strongest categories and said they were ready and eager to make up for the girls’ absence because they are well balanced in all strokes. His young brother Joshua Lumonya is also hoping to build on his CANA Zone 2 Championship in Ghana to perform better.

Other aquatic disciplines like Water Polo and Open Water swimming will also feature at either KISU or Munyonyo while the open water competition will be held at the Uganda Wildlife Education Center (UWEC) beach on Sunday.

As per the COVID-19 protocols, all athletes will stay and the Speke Resort Munyonyo where they will be ferried every day to the venue at KISU.  The virtual event will be streamed live on social media platforms