Olympic hopefuls go for Africa Seniors

Coach Tonnie Kasujja leads Uganda’s team of four at the April 30 – May 5 Africa Senior Swimming Championships in Angola.

Tendo Mukalazi, Jesse Ssengonzi plus female counterparts Gloria Muzito and Kirabo Namutebi make up the team.

The four could have been going to their third championship together this year after representing Uganda at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar in February but Ssengonzi eventually missed his flight to the Africa Games in Accra in March while Kirabo Namutebi was also unavailable.

Ssengonzi therefore did not get an opportunity to lower his 54.48 seconds national record (NR) in the 100m butterfly but he will attempt to sink it again in Angola. The entries also show that he will compete in the 50m and 200m fly events.

Namutebi is probably the most pumped up of the group. She did not do an Olympic event at the Worlds but competed for her University of Indianapolis in the same state at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Long-course Invitational and clocked 25.44 in the women’s 50m free. The feat earned her a slot at the USA’s Olympic trials in June in the same state.

It also came days after topping the women's 50 yards freestyle event at the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships with a time of 22.08 seconds.

Her 25.44 lowered the 26.01 NR that she shared with Muzito but is also just microseconds off the Paris Olympics’ women’s 50m free qualification mark (A-time) of 24.70 or the consideration (B) time of 24.82. Should Namutebi beat those marks – and time is clearly on her side – she would be the first Ugandan swimmer to qualify for the Olympics on merit. She also has the 50m breaststroke in her entries.

Muzito also made the most of Accra by lowering her 56.55 100m free Doha time to a 56.01 NR and winning Uganda’s first medal at this year’s Games.

Mukalazi left Doha with a 23.63 NR in 50m freestyle while his 52.22 from the October 2023 World Cup in Hungary remains his 100m freestyle personal best. The NR stands at the 52.07 split that Ssengonzi made as the lead swimmer in the 4x100m freestyle relay in Doha.

AFRICA SWIMMING SENIORS

Team and events

Tendo Mukalazi: 100m & 50m freestyle

Jesse Ssengonzi: 200m, 100m & 50m butterfly

Gloria Muzito: 100m & 50m free

Kirabo Namutebi: 50m free & 50m breaststroke

-All four will do the 4x100m free relay