Uganda’s Noble makes history, heads for repechage

Noble had her moment in history as Uganda's first rower to compete at the Olympics. PHOTO/COURTESY

Kathleen Grace Noble had her moment in history as Uganda's first rower to compete at the Olympics.
The 26-year-old, however, finished 5th in a speedy second of six women's single scull heats in the 2000m regatta held at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo, Japan.
Noble, rowing her orange Nelo-made boat, crossed the finish line in eight minutes, 21 seconds and 85 microseconds (8:21.85), to make it to tomorrow's repechage, in what was a clearly bright sun morning in Tokyo with relatively calm waters.
"It almost felt like a miracle, thank God," Noble said after her performance in which she finished behind Ireland's 2019 and 2018 World Champion and two-time Olympian (2012 & 2016) Sanita Puspure (7:46.08), Mexico's 2016 Olympics representative Kenia Lechuga (7:54.21) and Greece's World U-23 champion Anneta Kyridoi (7:54.28).
All three qualified for the quarterfinals. Noble had a slow start and ended up playing catch up for most of the race, eventually finding a position between Trinidad & Tobago's Rio Olympics representative Aisha Felice Chow (8:02.02) and Singapore's first timer Joan Poh (8:31.12).
This trio also heads into the repechage, where they have been re-seeded for a second chance, to compete for the remaining quarterfinal slots and Coach Ahsan Iqbal is more confident of his sculler's chances.
"Kathleen races according to plan. Going into this race, we knew this heat was too fast to qualify for quarter finals so this was a test race to get the nerves settled," Iqbal told social media platform Uganda Rowing Community.
Repechage chances
In tomorrow's, repechage, Noble has been grouped in the third race and will have Cuba's Milena Cancio Venega, who returned 8:03.00 from Heat 5, and China's Winnie Wing Yan Hung, who clocked 8:17.79 in Heat 3, as main competition.
The race will also have fellow Africans Claire Ayivon, who represented Togo at Rio 2016, but clocked 8:48.07 in Heat 4 and Sudan's Esraa Khogali who clocked 10:18.27 in Heat 1.
Noble's work is cut out as the top two in the repechage qualify for the quarterfinals while the rest fall to the classification semifinals E/F.
But she will be more confident as the races start a little earlier, than they did today, when the waters are even calmer. She also has a 7:52.05 personal best and national record from the USA Independence Regatta, held on July 3 in Philadelphia, which if she manages could get her home and dry.
Women's 2000m Single Scull
Heat 2 of 6 Results

1. Sanita Puspure (Ireland) - 7:46.08
2. Kenia Lechuga (Mexico) - 7:54.21
3. Anneta Kyridoi (Greece) - 7:54.28
4. Aisha Felice Chow (Trinidad and Tobago) - 8:02.02
5. Kathleen Noble (Uganda) - 8:21.85
6. Joan Poh (Singapore) - 8:31.12
*Top 3 from each heat qualified for the quarterfinals. Others due for a repechage (second chance) to fill up quarterfinals slots
Repechage 3 Start-List (Tomorrow 2.30a.m East African Time)
1. Claire Ayivon (Togo) - 8.48.07
2. Winnie Wing Yan Hung (China HKG) - 8.17.79
3. Milena Cancio Venega (Cuba) - 8.03.00
4. Kathleen Noble (Uganda) - 8.21.85
5. Esraa Khogali (Sudan) - 10.18.27
*Top 2 from each of three repechages qualify for the quarters. Others fall to semifinals E/F