Future of Ugandan rowing Uncertain after Kathleen Noble's retirement

Following the retirement of Ugandan rower Kathleen Noble after the Paris Olympics, there are doubts about the sport's future and Uganda's representation at the next games in Los Angeles.

Two-time Olympian Noble has been the face of Ugandan rowing, promoting the sport single-handedly for over ten years up to the highest level of competition—the Olympics.

In Paris, she finished second in the Repechage Final E with an impressive time of 7:56.10, just 1.85 seconds behind Algeria’s Nihed Benchadli, who won with a time of 7:54.25.

Uganda's Kathleen Noble at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

“I want to move on to new challenges in life, start a family, focus on my career, and pass the baton to someone else. I’m very happy to wrap up this season and move on to something else,” Noble said after her outing.

She advised that the immediate solution to her retirement should not be identifying the next ‘Kathleen Noble’ but rather focusing on the general development of the sport to allow many other stars to emerge.

“I honestly think we should shift the focus from trying to qualify someone for the Olympics to creating regional and national championships. We need to build a vibrant team in the country before focusing on the next Olympian. Competing locally and being successful at the local, regional, and continental levels is important; otherwise, you end up at the world championship or the Olympics and come last, which might not be a good experience,” Noble reasoned.

Kathleen Noble in action during the Women's Scull event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

“We need to develop the sport at home so that people enjoy it, have different clubs with regular activity every week, and build a base to become competitive over time,” she added.

Noble believes her exit will not leave the sport dead because she leaves it in a place where people are inspired and hopefully, they can be the next to represent Uganda.

“We have a lot of development to do in Uganda, but we have also gained momentum recently. We acquired new boats and are setting up a rowing center. I think there is a possibility of having athletes compete at the African championship,” she said.

Batenga Nakisozi, the general secretary of the Uganda Rowing Federation, who coached Noble at the Maroons Aqua Sports Club and also serves as the Head of the Technical Commission for World Rowing, agrees with Noble and notes that the federation still has a lot of work to do.

“We need to grow the structures, have the equipment, and establish a system for the sport to grow and develop, whether at the elite level, lower level, or development level,” Batenga noted.

She mentioned that the World Rowing Federation has identified Uganda as a crucial partner for developing and promoting rowing in Africa, especially in East and Central Africa. They donated 17 boats to Uganda, which will be used to host an East and Central Africa Championship next March, acting as a springboard for the sport to thrive in the country.

“We could perhaps also host the African championship. But we will start with the regional one to get everyone on the same page and understand the vision that World Rowing has for Uganda. It benefits us in many ways, including developing talent, infrastructure, and sports tourism for the country,” she stated.

“As a federation, we have to be very intentional about identifying and developing talent, building structures, clubs, governance, and infrastructure. If any of these elements are missing, we cannot succeed,” Batenga emphasized.

She acknowledged that the federation doesn’t have a Noble in waiting but there is a lot of talent that needs to be polished. “She has done wonderful things for us, including advocacy and publicity. We are definitely looking to life after her, as we knew about her decision in Tokyo,” she said.

“We now have competition and coastal boats, and we need to devise means on how they will be used and who will use them. They need to be in a high-performance environment to avoid past mistakes. We have been offered a great opportunity, so we must manage the boats well,” she stated.

Batenga said the next Olympics (2028) might be too soon for Uganda to have another representative, but they are committed to taking the sport forward through talent identification, development, and good governance.

She mentioned that the federation is venturing into coastal rowing, now part of the Olympics, as Uganda might have an opportunity there.

“In the short term, we need to have national championships, ensure clubs are active, and involve schools. We can start with indoor events to generate public interest in our sport. In the mid-term, we will focus on the East and Central Africa Championship next year and select the best rowers to represent us at the African championships, world championships, coastal championships, and eventually the Olympic qualifiers in 2027. We need to meet these small targets,” Batenga concluded.