Teen sensation Kukundakwe basks in Paralympics debut

Ugandan para-swimmer Husnah Kukundakwe is happy with her new 1:34.35 personal best posted yesterday in the 100m breaststroke SB8 class heats at the ongoing Paralympics in Tokyo.

The 14-year-old Dolphins Swim Club swimmer managed an impressive 43.18 split at the half-way mark and had the fast-paced heat, in which she finished 6th, to thank.

“Yes, they really gave me the pace,” Kukundakwe, who qualified on merit for her first Games with a 1:36.31 in the same race during April’s World Series in Sheffield – England, said in the post-event interviews.

Visible progress
“There was an American swimmer (White Meimei who posted 1:32.84) who I was trying to keep myself with and I feel happy because this (PB) shows how I am progressing.

And that makes me want to progress more up to the point where I can get a medal in the future,” she added then further explaining how she had to calm her nerves on the deck because her “race was going to end in less than two minutes.”

Kukundakwe is one who always thinks of the future, a trait that helps her and coach Muzafaru Muwanguzi focus on the bigger picture. And she will use her free time now to delve deeper into a fun she can muster in Japan, lay her hair down after a year of sacrifice that included “not drinking soda or eating bread” but she will definitely be back to the pool to get more inspiration

“Maybe later I will come back to watch the finals and see how these guys get medals. Just seeing these guys with more experience than I have will give me a vision of what I want to be when I’m older,” Kukundakwe said while also admitting to feeling nervous on the deck and being star-struck – not only in the call room but also as she met her heroes in Tokyo, especially those that featured in the Rising Phoenix documentary.

Sky, not the limit
She is already thinking of Paris 2024 and inspiring everyone back home and in Africa although, in the aftermath of making history as the youngest Paralympian at the Games, she felt like she could “touch the clouds.”  

The Games are being shown on free-to-air broadcast in 49 African territories thanks to an International Paralympic Committee initiative, and Kukundakwe hopes her race could have a transformative effect.

“Africa in general, will learn that people with disabilities are just like normal people and they need to do whatever they want to do.

Maybe giving these kids a chance, when they see that they are different from other people and they realize that they want to do something, sport can help them raise their confidence,” said the athlete, who has born without a right forearm and has impairment on her left hand too.