Namutebi recommended for Fina scholarship
Deserved Placing. Namutebi’s displays make her deserving. PHOTO | ISMAIL KEZAALA
BY MAKHTUM MUZIRANSA
Kirabo Namutebi will likely follow in the footsteps of her brother Tendo Mukalazi and former teammate Joshua Ekirikubinza after she was nominated by the Uganda Swimming Federation (USF) to benefit from the 2020/21 Fina scholarship.
The scholarships, which offer technical support but without education, are usually extended to swimmers close to hitting qualification times for Fina’s prime events and the Olympics. “After evaluation of the most eligible athletes, USF submitted a recommendation in favour of Kirabo,” USF president Moses Mwase, told members of the federation in a virtual meeting over the weekend. Ekirikubinza was the first Ugandan to benefit from this when he was preparing for the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil. The arrangement then allowed him to practice with a personal coach thereby allowing him to continue with his education uninterrupted. However, Fina later decided that it was better to have swimmers join their training centres rather than practice with personal coaches.
For a while, USF struggled to find swimmers willing to choose between swimming and education. Last year, USF nominated Namutebi for the 2019/20 scholarship to help her hit the Olympic selection (B) time (25.51) for the 50m freestyle but it was turned down due to her age. She was 14 then.
USF then backed her brother Mukalazi, who should have gone to Phuket Thailand early this year but was stopped by the Coronavirus-induced ban on travel and sports. His benefits will be deferred.
Cana postponement
Meanwhile, the pandemic continues to affect the USF calendar with the federation having already initiated a process to postpone the Cana Zone III Championships – that should have been held here in November – to next year.
USF believes that their swimmers will require at least three months of training after lockdown to get in shape for competitions.
“We are open to do any activities that do not require us to meet in large numbers till the lockdown is lifted while our elite athletes are following instructions from their coaches on how they can keep in shape.
But we are also engaging Fina to see how we can mobilize support for the Olympic hopefuls so they can keep up with other top swimmers around the world,” Mwase said.
