Swimming: Usca urged to drive for partnerships that develop knowledge

Rising. Swimming continues to improve. FILE PHOTO

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  • He urged the body to drive for partnerships with other coaching associations to develop their knowledge and come back with over-arching philosophies on having fun and healthy practice.

KAMPALA. Local coaches under their umbrella body Uganda Swimming Coaches Association (Usca) have embarked on self-empowerment.

On Sunday, over 30 coaches assembled at Gems Cambridge International School where they were taught about child protection by Usca president Allan Kizza, philosophy and practice by Olympian Dr. Gilbert Kaburu and periodization by coach Tonnie Kasujja, among other topics.

“We need to be experts in our own settings,” Kaburu, who competed as a 26-year-old in the men’s 50 m freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics clocking 27.72, said in praise efforts of Usca to develop the critical mass.

Previously, coaches had to wait for these capacity building opportunities from foreign experts brought in by Uganda Swimming Federation (USF) but the last one came in 2016.

“Much as we benefit from others coming in from abroad, their challenges are not our challenges.
“They have facilities that we might not have,” Kaburu, based in Sudan at Khartoum International School and holds a PhD in Teaching in Learning, added.

He urged the body to drive for partnerships with other coaching associations to develop their knowledge and come back with over-arching philosophies on having fun and healthy practice.

“I have been to some clubs here and I get the feeling coaches are bogged down by parents who want medals. But what happens to a 10 year old swimmer when they can no longer win medals three years later?” he pondered.