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Uganda collected four medals as the 16th edition of the African Aquatic Championship ended at the Alvalade Swimming Pool in Luanda, Angola on Friday.

Uganda fielded four swimmers; two males, Tendo Mukalazi and Jesse Ssengonzi, and two females; Kirabo Namutebi and Gloria Muzito who helped Uganda to a sixth-place finish out of the ten countries that picked medals.

Coach Tonnie Kasujja’s charges competed against swimmers from hosts Angola, Egypt, South Africa, Algeria, Sudan, Senegal, Uganda, Mauritius, Rwanda, Ghana, and Tunisia.

Uganda rolled off her campaign with a golden performance by Gloria Muzito in the 100m freestyle race where she clocked 56.78 to claim her first continental gold, beating Senegal’s Diop Oumy and Egypt’s Nadine Amin who managed 57.62 and 58.16 respectively.

“I’m so happy and proud to have won my first African gold medal,” Muzito, 21, told the media moments after coming out of the pool.

She had earlier won heat 4 of the preliminaries in 57:37 beating Algeria’s Medjahed, Nesrine (58.57), and Oumy (58.90). She also raked in important FINA points that will come in handy in her pursuit of an Olympic ticket.

Swimming in heat 6 over the same distance, Tendo Mukalazi wasn’t as lucky as he missed qualifying for the finals by 61 microseconds, having come in fourth in 52:89.

Ssengozi registered a personal best (55.13) as he made the 100m butterfly race final but could only finish fourth in the final having made 54.55 behind Egypt’s Adnan Abd El Rahman who picked bronze in 54.11. Egypt’s Nasr Abdala won the gold in 53.49.

Namutebi, 19, then added bronze from the 50m breaststroke race after she touched the wall in 32.99 behind South Africans Van Niekerk Lara and Simone Mall who took gold and silver in 31.05 and 31.29 respectively.

She then claimed silver in the 50m freestyle race (25.86) where Muzito bagged bronze in a personal best of 25.88. Algeria’s Melih Amel, 31, claimed the gold in 25.73.