Seals swimmers end year on a high

By Michael Nsubuga

The Seals Swimming Club plans to host one of the biggest swimming club events next year after completing another successful year.

According to Tefiro Sserunjogi, one of the officials of the club, the event will be akin to the CANA Zone 3&4 event that was held in Uganda this year.

The Seals are fresh from Nairobi where they collected eleven medals from the NASA Invitational Swimming Championships in Nairobi last week.

“We are going to start organizing swimming galas similar to the ones we have been going to in other countries and we intend to invite swimmers from as far as South Africa, Zambia and Kenya among other countries in order to raise the level of our swimmers,” Sserunjogi said.

Nuwa Ssenkebe was again the star for the Seals in the annual championship with gold in the 200m butterfly event that also came with a new meet record of 2:43.86.

He also won silver in the 200m backstroke (2:36.21) and from the 200m freestyle (2:19.00) in the 14-15 year old category.

Nine-year-old Ann Igabire also won gold in the 50m backstroke and two silver medals from the 50m breaststroke and butterfly heats.

Mercedes Mwebeiha (100m breaststroke) was the other medal winner for the Seals with another silver.

Nabil Saleh, 13, another Ugandan junior swimmer who studies at Braeburn schools was the other star of the two-day championship with six gold medals.

Saleh set new meet records in each of the races that included the 50mFS, 50 & 100m back, 100m free, 200m back and the 200m Individual Medley races.

Meanwhile Seals Zambian coach Chisela Kanchela believes the meet was a good learning experience for him and his swimmers.

“We are now able to gauge ourselves against them so that by the time we go back in February we shall be able to put up a good show,” he said.

“My goal is to produce about 250 swimmers for the club in the next three years. If we get the results we want from such meets, then the more people we shall attract to the sport.”

NASA Invitational Swimming Championships (Uganda medalists)

Nuwa Ssenkebe 1 gold+2 silver

Ann Igabire 1 gold+2 silver

Mercedes Mwebeiha 1 silver