Fina president eager to assess level of swimming

Captain Husain Al-Musallam, the president of world swimming governing body Fina, is in Uganda for a two day visit to inspect the level of the sport in the country.

The former swimmer and aeroplane pilot landed at Entebbe Airport yesterday afternoon accompanied by Fina executive director Brent John Nowicki, Cana (Africa Swimming Federation) president Sam Ramsamy plus Cana Zone III president Donald Rukara

Also travelling with them is Dutch world swimming champions Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Ferry Weertman - who will dig into their experiences and achievements to inspire young swimmers that they will meet today.

Personal witness

“As a president, I want to see with my eyes what every country needs,” Al-Musallam, who is also visiting other countries in Zone III, said in a press briefing at the airport that preceded meetings with the Minister of Education and Sports First Lady Janet Museveni and State Minister for Sports Denis Hamson Obua.

“You cannot have a standard of needs (across all countries). You need to talk to the athletes, government, National Olympic Committee in order to give the correct support,” added Al-Musallam, who will today meet a group of swimmers.

Uganda Swimming Federation (USF) hope to get support in terms of facilities and technical capacities.

“We have been sending reports so Fina actually knows our challenges because we file reports on a quarterly basis. However, this is an opportunity to have a close-up discussion and show them in detail what swimming is like in Uganda,” USF president Moses Mwase, said.

Kromowidjojo - who has been with the delegation to Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi too - believes “there is huge potential and every kid loves water.”

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‘‘But if they are not taught to swim then it is dangerous for them.’’

Weertman, on the other hand, encourages swimmers to focus on the positives as; ‘‘a lot of countries have the same challenges (in terms of facilities) and we would all like better and more facilities plus more time in the pool because in this sport it takes time to get better. Fina now has a new program to coach coaches rather than just train one swimmer who does his thing then retires without passing on the knowledge so I think that will help. Most importantly, improvement starts with you. It is easy to have a dream but you have to work for it and need the right support around you to get better,’’ Weertman said.