Uganda to field 89 swimmers for the CANA Zone 3 Championship

Uganda will field 89 swimmers at the 11th CANA Zone 3 Swimming Championship, which they will host at the Kampala International School of Uganda, October 21-24.

A 22-man water polo team and the Masters team will also vie for honours in the annual event, expected to attract athletes from about 11 countries in the zone.

At a press conference at the federation offices on Saturday, Uganda Aquatics (UA) president Moses Mwase, accompanied by events manager Eric Kisero, said Uganda will also field swimmers in the Open Water swimming category at the Entebbe Sailing Club on Lake Victoria.

He said the event has also attracted interest from swimmers with disabilities (para and intellectual) and from Special Olympics Uganda, which would like to use it as a qualifying event for their World Games in South America next year. Entries will close on October 4.

“But before that, we will use the opportunity of the first open water swimming competition that will be hosted at Entebbe Sailing Club on October 10 to select swimmers for our Open Water team,” Mwase said.

“We are looking forward to competition from South Africa, from Namibia, from Zambia, from Zimbabwe, and Angola. So, we look forward to seeing whether any Zone-4 countries express interest.

“But we are quite excited that we are getting back to having swimming, open water swimming, and water polo. This is consistent with the strategy of ensuring that we encourage other aquatic disciplines to develop,” Mwase stated.

Kisero said the championship will be contested in four different categories. He said Uganda will field 89 swimmers comprising two teams, A and B, in the 12 under, 13-14, 15-16, and 17 over.

The water polo teams will compete in the 16 and under and 17 and over. The top two swimmers in Team A, and the next two in Team B will represent the country.

“It will be a mixed activity, both girls and boys, as part of World Aquatics water polo development plan.” In open water, Uganda will have two teams in the 15 and under and 16 and over categories, separate for girls and boys. The fourth category will be the masters, who will still take part in both swimming and open water.

He said the 15&under will compete over 3 km, the 16&over will navigate 5 km, and the masters will do 1.5km. There will also be a mixed relay for open water, (two men, two women).

“Team Uganda has already had three training sessions. We know the athletes come from various clubs and teams, but they're all participating in this ongoing camp. We have six training days planned, and we're currently finishing up day three. The team is looking good and ready. We have a strong turnout, with 80% of the athletes present,” Kisero noted.

He said all teams will be accommodated at the Speke Resort in Munyonyo, except for the water polo and open water swimmers, along with masters, who will be staying at home.

“We shall be awarding athletes in different events in their different age groups; however, we shall also have a victor-victress, that's one swimmer per category, both girls and boys. “We are trying to prepare ourselves to retain the trophy, because we are the defending champions.

“For swimming, we shall give medals to the top individual athletes per age group. We shall also give out medals for each event that will be swum, alongside overall trophies. For water polo, we shall award the top junior water polo team and the top senior water polo team in a points-based program that we shall use,” Kisero stated.

The four-day event will have races from 9 am to midday for the morning session and from 4pm to 6pm for the afternoon session.

The event is sponsored by Uganda Development Bank, Tororo Cement, Plascon, Aquafina, and Uganda Airlines, the official carrier for the foreign teams.