The Elite Swim and Gym was officially opened by some of sports biggest dignatories on Tuesday evening.

It was an evening of celebration as Fannie and Hitesh Usadadiya officially opened the facility which is expected to be a game changer not only in swimming but also in other sports.

Quite a number of young athletes have already joined Gators Swim Club which is based at the Ntinda premises.

FUFA vice president Justus Mugisha speaks during the launch. Photo by Richard Sanya

“We hope for a lot of improvement in our swimmers even in the next two years you cannot just come for six months and say I am bad and on top of the world. We need our athletes in the water and our coaches on the ground,” Fannie said.

Elite Swim has a standard 25-metre pool, something UOC president Don Rukare believes will change the face of swimming in Uganda.

The Elite Swim and Gym is a training centre and doesn’t serve as a leisure pool.

Ever since the facility started taking in athletes, the number of swimming club members keeps improving.

Fahia Usadadiya embraces her son Heer who inspired the facility’s establishment. Photo by Richard Sanya

The idea to build the gym was born from a swim mother’s toil to give her child fair access to the pool.

So, after the COVID lockdown groundwork was laid and today the facility is serving a number of swimmers.

“We would like to tell the young athletes who would like to pursue swimming that they have a facility today. They have a facility that can take them everywhere as long as they are ready to train because we have coaches who are national coaches of Uganda as long as they are ready to train,” she explained.

The pool is home to one of Uganda’s best swimmers including Olympians Husna Kukundakwe, Kirabo Namutebi and Tendo Mukalazi.

The athletes are trained by the best coaches on the land including former Olympian Jamila Lunkuse and national team coach Muzafaru Muwanguzi.

The idea behind the pool is to give Ugandan swimmers the best start to become elite and role with the big boys in the world of swimming.