Namutebi leads Uganda’s quest at Juniors Worlds
Strong swimmer. Darren Ssamula will be thinking of lowering his PB in the 100m freestyle. Photo by Ismail Kezaala
KAMPALA- Uganda’s swimming trio of Kirabo Namutebi, Adnan Kabuye and Darren Ssamula are set to make their continental bow at the seventh biennial Fina World Juniors Championships due August 20-25 in Budapest, Hungary.
The world juniors’ competition is organised for girls aged 14–17 years and boys aged 15–18 years.
Former Manchester United manager Sir Matt Busby once said: “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.”
The quote is widely revered but the trio will be pleased that they can go to a major world event full of the peers before they can jump to the more gruelling senior championships.
Namutebi, 14, is the only female on Team Uganda that is expected to leave the country today.
She spent most of June and July in the USA with Ssamula, where they competed in the Montgomery County Swim League.
Namutebi has entered 27.58 for her 50m freestyle and not the 27.32 she managed in Montgomery. Her entry time is a few microseconds off Jamila Lunkuse’s 27.43 (the official national record) from the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Scotland.
Namutebi is certainly under no pressure to officially break the record but the 14 year old can do it, three years younger than Lunkuse was when she set it.
In ways that will not only be a triumph for her but for local swimming too.
Her 30.59 entry time – set at the Cana Zone IV Championships in Namibia in February – for the 50m butterfly event is also faster than the 31.20 that Avice Meya managed at the African Championships last year.
Meya has not had a chance to improve on that time this year as she focused on Olympic events (10m fly and 50 free) when she went to the Fina World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea last month.
Meanwhile, her Dolphins male teammates Ssamula and Kabuye – both 16 – are expected to go head to head in the 50m butterfly. Ssamula will add the 100m fly and freestyle while Kabuye, who was the African Championships and Africa Youth Games last year, will take on the world in the 50m free and 50m backstroke too.
Fina World Juniors 2019
Kirabo Namutebi
100m freestyle – 1:03.89
50m freestyle – 27.58
50m butterfly – 30.59
50m breaststroke – 35.78
Darren Ssamula
100m butterfly – 1:04.40
100m freestyle – 59.10
50m butterfly – 29.65
Adnan Kabuye
50m backstroke – 28.98
50m freestyle – 25.30
50m butterfly – 28.30
