Gators Swim Club’s Tara Kisawuzi and Heer Usadadiya set new 800m freestyle national records after swimming under ten minutes, as the inaugural national swimming league got underway at the International School of Uganda swimming pool on Sunday.

Kisawuzi, 14, and Usadadiya, 13, clocked 9:57.75 and 9:42.61 in the girls’ and boys’ categories respectively to beat the previous records of 10:45.62 by Zara Nsubuga and that of 9:44.71 by Darren Ssamula; set at the 2017 CANA Zone 3 Championship in Dar-es-salaam over the short course.

Aquatics Akram Lubega in action during the 800m freestyle race during the USF National Swim League at ISU pool. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

Kirabo Namutebi and Raphael Musoke in the 17&Over category also registered personal bests over the 32-lap race after posting 10:06.97 and 9:53.81 respectively, in an event that attracted swimmers from 18 clubs.

Aquatics’ Rahmah Nakasule (10:35.61) and Gators Paloma Kirabo (11:01.35) came second and third in the 13-14 category while Daniel Rukundo (10:10.69) and Ethan Ssengooba (10:17.03) were the first and second runners-up to Usadadiya.

The other swimmers that endured the grueling race and topped their categories included Darleen Wanyenze (11:37.84) in the 11-12 years’ category, where Dolphins’ Theresa Kikambi and Sailfish’s Karen Mwangi (12:05.0) finished second and third respectively.

Ozpreys Swim Club’s Jerome Matsiko (12:50.00), Sailfish’s Jaden Mwase (11:53.78), and Gators’ Jason Winyi were the top boys in that category.

Aquatics’ Karimah Katemba and Dolphins Pendo Kaumi topped the 15-16 age category while Almorie Nagayi, Deshpande Khyati, Tebi Nyanzi, Mathew Mwase, Swagiah Mubiru, Gabriella Ndawula, Steve Magera and Michael Mukiibi also put up a good show.

Gators Tara Kisawuzi after completing her 800m freestyle race during the USF National Swim League at ISU pool. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

In winning the 100m breaststroke race, Otters Swim Club’s Nisha Pearl Najjuma posted a new personal best of 1:42.11, in the 10&Under, where Black Panthers Daniela Munguci and International School of Uganda’s, Christelle Kalemeera made 1:40.01 and 1:44.08 respectively.

Elijah Ayesiga of Torpedoes, Marc Kaliisa, and Berekiah Lutaaya of Gators were the top three in the boys’ category with qualifying times of; 1:38.54, 1:41.82, and 1:44.72 respectively.

The 11-12 years’ category was won by Jaguar’s Zara Mbaga, ahead of Peyton Suubi and Karen Mwangi in the girls’ category while Sailfish’s Jaden Mwase, Dolphins’ Jeremiah Magera, and Elijah Polo of the Silverfin Academy were the top performers in the boys’ category, over the 100m breaststroke.

Several other swimmers made the qualifying time in the different races over the two days of action in the 50m back, 200m butterfly, 100 IM, and 200m freestyle races, in an event that attracted 1,029 swimmers.

The league is going to be run under a point reward system with participating swimmers meeting the minimum qualifying times to participate in the league. The athlete with the highest points after the third outing will emerge as the overall winner in each of the categories. The league is aimed at increasing the athlete’s knowledge and exposure to more competitive events, acting as a guide to setting competitive swimming goals and rewarding hard work as well as promoting annual training activities and reduce on early specialization; in addition to helping in setting up new national records and meet records. All events will be swum as timed finals.