Uganda's Aquatics Zone 3 gold medalists receive free annual access to Waves Pool

Uganda’s swimmers who won gold medals at the 8th Africa Aquatics Zone 3 Swimming Championship in Rwanda last month have earned themselves a one-year free membership at the Waves Fitness Harbour Swimming Pool in Ntinda.

Uganda’s team of 49 swimmers amassed 3206 points over three days of action at the Gahanga Swimming pool in Rwanda, with 29 of them picking gold medals, to win the championship that attracted ten countries.

The Ugandans including Masters’ swimmers collected a total of 55 gold medals among others, from the three-day championship. They had prepared for the championship for three weeks at the Waves Fitness Harbour, whose management staked the offer for the gold medalists.

Uganda’s masters led by Donald Rukare also won their category with Alex Kateeba, David Wolimbwa, Peter Ssebanakitta, Dunstan Rukare, Grace Namwanje, Catherine Nakimuli, Conrad Bukonyezi, and Henry Kakooza also winning individual gold medals over the different races.

Now, these, and some of the youngsters including Tara Kisawuzi, Mary Peyton Ssuubi, Karla Mugisha, Larry Feni, Heer Usadadiya, Tendo Kaumi, and Isaiah Kuc among others, all of whom won gold medals can use the Waves facility for free for a full year in the sponsorship worth sh110m.

Rukare encouraged everyone to join swimming because it was a worthwhile venture that promoted good health. He said a team of five masters have embarked on preparations for the world championships in Doha before another event in Kenya in March, among other events in Burundi and Tanzania. Ssebanakitta, Dunstan and Don Rukare, Kakooza and Alex Kateeba are preparing for the Doha event.

Masters Swimmer Henry Kakooza (right) receives his card from Coach Matovu Wasswa at the Waves Swimming Facility, Jnauary 4, 2024. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

“As the masters, we thank the management of the facility for the kind offer. This is an incentive for us to continue swimming three times a week as we prepare for the other events,” Rukare said.

“We are grateful to the facility owners for having fulfilled their pledge. This will help improve the sport and this will help us exercise discipline, resilience, commitment, and continuity to excel in this sport,” Conrad Kaheeru who won two gold, one silver, and one bronze, said.

“We now have to keep on training and working hard to ensure we are in shape for other competitions,” Kaheeru stated.

“We thought the best way to encourage our swimmers was to give them such an offer of complimentary cards,” Matovu Wasswa, a coach for the Malta Swim Club that also uses the same facility, said.

Nicholas Jjengo the CEO of the facility congratulated the team noting that they were mesmerized by the numbers that got gold and thanked the coaches for a job well done.