Kukundakwe sets three African records in Singapore, eyes Commonwealth Games
Kukundakwe set three African records of 1:11.76, 32.49, and 3:03.72 in the Women’s 100m freestyle S8 class, the 50m freestyle and the Women's 200m Individual Medley events respectively at the OCBC Aquatic Centre last week.
Condoleeza Nakazibwe Nyamisanga in action during a butterfly event. Photo by Michael Nsubuga
Fresh off her record-breaking swim at the Toyota World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore, Uganda’s para swimmer Husnah Kukundakwe is now aiming to make waves at the Commonwealth Games.
Kukundakwe set three African records of 1:11.76, 32.49, and 3:03.72 in the Women’s 100m freestyle S8 class, the 50m freestyle and the Women's 200m Individual Medley events respectively at the OCBC Aquatic Centre last week to cap a successful outing at her second global event in six months.
She also swam in the Women's 100m breaststroke finishing second in heat-2 in a time of 1:28.54 behind Spain’s Dmyrtriv Dmytriv Anastasiya who won the heat in 1:26.49.
She improved that in the final, returning 1:27.37 in the event won by Anastasiya in 1:19.83. Great Britain’s Whsiton Brock (1:21.18) and Neutral Paralympic Athlete Elena Kliachkina (1:25.05) took the silver and bronze respectively.
Uganda’s other representative in Singapore was Condoleezza Nakazibwe Nyamisanga who competed in the women’s 50m freestyle S9 class as she made her second appearance at the worlds. She clocked 33.61 to also register a personal best in the event won by Australia’s Learly Alexa in 27.36.
“It was a great meet, very successful and I enjoyed the whole experience of not only competing but the country itself. I met all my goals and even more because I registered personal bests in all the events I competed in and made the finals in all events,” Kukundakwe said.
“But there is still a lot to work on regarding my technique, my racing skills and every other aspect of my swimming that requires improvement; this will be discussed with my coach.”
Kukundakwe will now return to school before she embarks on the road to qualify for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Nakazibwe says she also enjoyed her experience at the games and met her expectations.
“I cut my time and I am really proud of that so I feel like I met my expectations. I have learnt that you have to give it your best all the time. The plan is to continuously improve along the way,” Nakazibwe stated.