Day Two: Nabil's star continues to rise at CANA

By Michael Nsubuga   

Nabil Saleh's star continued to rise on the second day of the CANA Zone 3 and 4 championships when he won more gold in the 50m butterfly race and the 200m freestyle.

The 12-year-old Ugandan swimmier clocked 2:17.50 in the 200m race on Friday and was timed at 30.00 in the 50m butterfly race to earn Uganda an extra 36 points on Day Two of the annual championship.

He beat Kenya's Alvin Omondi and Angola's Henrique Mascarenhas by slightly over six and seven seconds respectively to bag his third gold before he again beat Omondi and Rosafio Danilo in the 50m butterfly competition.

Hind Kimberly, 13, also underlined her prowess in the individual races by winning her second gold of the championship after posting 2:13.20 in the girls’ 200m freestyle race.

Kimberly edged South African pair Steyn Dane (2:16.90) who came in second and Marais Kirsty (2:17.10) to gold in an exciting and fast race that kept fans on their toes.

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Uganda's Hind Kimberly in action in the 200m freestyle race. PHOTO/Michael Nsubuga

The other Ugandan swimmers Arnold Kisulo and Rebecca Ssengonzi could not beat South Africa's Scheepers Junaid and Seychelles' Passon Felicity respectively in the 50m butterfly, and had to settle for bronze in their respective heats.

Jethero Ssengonzi (6th), Saleh Fadhil (5th), Daisuke Roland (11th), Hezekiah Owour (13th), Nicole Lutalo (14th) and Adel Saleh (10th) could not match the speeds in their respective heats of the 200m freestyle races.

It was a similar story for Jesse Ssengonzi, Eric Kisero, Davice Meya and Isma Serunjogi in the 50m heats.

The championship ends on Sunday with races in the 50m freestyle (crawl) and 200m butterfly heats as well as the 100m freestyle and 200m individual medley races.

Uganda medal winners after Day Two

Nabil Saleh - 4gold
Hind Kimberly - 2gold
Rebecca Ssengonzi - 2silver + 1bronze
Mukalazi Tendo - 1gold
Nuwa Senkebe - 1silver
Arnold Kisulo - 2bronze
Jethro Ssengonzi - 1bronze
Tom Barendse - 1bronze

Relays team - 1 bronze

Team scores through event 60

Kenya 1323pts
South Africa 1131
Zambia 1090
Angola 1053.5
Mauritius 827
Uganda 710.5
Tanzania 683
Malawi 318.5
Rwanda 171.5
Burundi 145
Seychelles 70