Three in USA a milestone for para-swimming
Condoleezza Thembo gives her all whenever she takes to the pool. PHOTO/JOHN BATANUDDE
What you need to know:
Two-time Paralympic swimmer Husnah Kukundakwe will lead first-timers Condoleezza Nakazibwe Thembo and Enock Sekitende, who will have to first undergo classification before diving into the competitive pool.
When the Para Swimming World Series start this Thursday, April 24 in Indianapolis, USA, Uganda may have three participants—a milestone in the country’s history of para-swimming.
Two-time Paralympic swimmer Husnah Kukundakwe will lead first-timers Condoleezza Nakazibwe Thembo and Enock Sekitende, who will have to first undergo classification before diving into the competitive pool.
Kukundakwe, who has been a lone-ranger at several international events, now has company. And she knows what classification means to her admirers. It’s what launched her career becoming the youngest athlete at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, aged 14, and setting an African Record at Paris 2024 among other achievements.
“There might be pressure but do your best, be eager, be excited, enjoy the experience,” Kukundakwe, the vice chairperson of the Uganda Paralympic Committee (UPC) Athletics Council advised her teammates including seven track and field athletes heading for the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Marrakech, Morocco.
But the debutantes’ excitement needs no prompting.
“I am very excited about the trip to the USA. I am expecting to get classified for the first time before my first para-swimming event,” said Enock Sekitende, born with a deformed left arm but started swimming only six months ago.
“Beyond that, I may not know what to expect in such competitions but I promise to give it my all. I feel we have prepared well through training.”
During the flag-off at the UPC offices in Mulago, Sekitende was accompanied by his sister and mother.
Condoleezza Nakazibwe Thembo, 12, is the youngest among the swimmers but already has lofty targets. "It's an amazing opportunity for me to go for my first international competition. I want to perform well and eventually qualify for the Los Angeles Paralympics," said Thembo, who lost her left arm in a motor accident in 2019.
Husnah Kukundakwe.
"I have always wanted to be like Husnah and I thank my coaches, my mother, my father and my entire family for helping me to pursue this dream."
Parents play a key role in swimmers’ careers. Thembo travelled with her mother Angella Naggayi Thembo. Likewise Hashima Batamuriza, has travelled with her daughter Kukundakwe since she was 11. She turned 18 on March 25.
Yet Batamuriza acknowledges that without funding to the UPC the parents’ efforts can be in vain. “I want to thank the UPC for a tremendous improvement in attracting [government] funding which has increased Uganda’s presence at international para-events.”
UPC president and Member of Parliament Bumali Mpindi, implored swimmers to treat the World Series as “a golden opportunity,” the start of the long pathway to Los Angeles 2028.
SWIMMERS IN INDIANAPOLIS
Husnah Kukundakwe, Condoleezza Nakazibwe Thembo,Enock Sekitende
