Uganda’s swimming team produced a competitive showing at the ANOCA Zone V Youth Games in Nairobi, Kenya, finishing the championships with nine medals: three gold, three silver and three bronze to place second on the overall medal table behind hosts Kenya.

The swimming championships, hosted by Kenya Aquatics at Kasarani Aquatic Stadium, brought together young athletes from across the region, with Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Sudan among the teams represented. Kenya dominated the final standings with 23 medals, including 12 gold, while Uganda’s nine-medal haul underlined the country’s strong presence among the region’s emerging swimming nations.

For Uganda, the campaign was driven by a group of promising young swimmers who consistently challenged for podium positions across freestyle, butterfly, backstroke and relay events.

One of Uganda’s standout performers was Arthur Mwase, who opened his campaign with victory in the men’s 14–17 100m freestyle.

Mwase clocked 57.06 seconds to take gold, finishing ahead of Kenya’s Tevin Waweru, who posted 57.74, and Rwanda’s ShejaKean Murenzi, who finished in 58.31.

He also featured prominently in Uganda’s relay teams. Together with Jonathan Kaweesa, Tyler Muganzi and Rahama Nakasule, Mwase helped Uganda to second place in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay, with the team stopping the clock at 4:11.17, behind Kenya’s 4:04.20.

The Ugandan quartet returned to the podium in the mixed 4x100m medley relay, recording 5:03.70 for another silver medal. Mwase anchored the team, following legs by Nakasule, Kaweesa and Muganzi.

Mwase also finished fourth in the men’s 200m freestyle, clocking 2:11.69 after splitting 1:02.78 at the halfway mark.

Tyler Muganzi was another major contributor to Uganda’s medal success.

Muganzi won the women’s 14–17 50m butterfly in 30.62 seconds, narrowly edging Kenya’s Lisa Kamphuis, who finished in 30.70. Uganda’s Rahama Nakasule completed the podium for the Ugandan team in 30.83, giving Uganda both gold and bronze in the event.

Muganzi later added another gold medal in the women’s 100m butterfly, touching in 1:09.60. Kenya’s Nadia Vusha was second in 1:14.85, while another Kenyan competitor was disqualified.

Her performances made her one of Uganda’s most successful swimmers at the championships and highlighted the country’s strength in the butterfly events.

Jonathan Kaweesa also delivered a number of strong performances.

He finished third in the men’s 50m butterfly in 27.40 seconds, behind Kenya’s Jeremy Rieck and Andrew Ogola.

Kaweesa also claimed third place in the men’s 50m freestyle, clocking 26.05 seconds. His time came after a 24.97 seed mark, with Kenya’s Baraka Nyakundi winning in 25.29 and Isaiah Gitonga taking silver in 25.72.

He was also part of both Uganda mixed relay teams that secured silver medals, making him an important component of the team’s overall medal campaign.

Rahama Nakasule contributed strongly to Uganda’s medal tally, featuring in the women’s sprint and relay events.

She took bronze in the 50m butterfly in 30.83 seconds, just behind teammate Muganzi and Kenya’s Kamphuis.

Nakasule also earned silver in the women’s 50m backstroke, recording 35.30 seconds behind Kenya’s Lisa Kamphuis, who won in 33.12.

Her contribution extended to the relay events, where she was part of Uganda’s silver-medal-winning mixed 4x100m freestyle and medley quartets.

The final medal standings placed Uganda comfortably second behind hosts Kenya, with three gold, three silver and three bronze medals for nine medals overall. Rwanda finished third with six medals, all bronze, while Tanzania, Ethiopia and Sudan each collected one bronze.

The championships provided valuable exposure against swimmers from across Zone V. For Uganda’s young athletes, the experience went beyond the medals: racing in a regional multi-sport Games environment offered an opportunity to test their speed, composure and consistency against some of East Africa’s leading youth swimmers.

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Uganda’s dominance at the 2026 Federation of East Africa Schools Sports Association (FEASSA) swimming championships in Morogoro, Tanzania, was a collective display of depth, consistency and versatility that saw the Uganda Swim Team finish comfortably at the top of the standings after two days of competition.

Uganda collected 51 medals, 28 gold, 16 silver and 7 bronze to finish well ahead of Kenya’s 37 medals and Tanzania’s eight. The dominance was almost perfectly balanced across the two categories, with the Ugandan men winning 22 medals and the women 27.

More significantly, Uganda accumulated 1169 team points, beating Kenya’s 1007 and Tanzania’s 550. The Ugandan women led their category with 589 points, while the men also topped the standings with 580 points.

The strongest feature of Uganda’s campaign was the number of swimmers capable of producing podium finishes. In the women’s individual rankings, Zara Marie Mbanga and Kenya’s Vekheina Leboy shared top billing on 60 points, while Uganda’s Gabriella Opolot finished third on 57 and Rahmah Nakasule Kalungi fourth on 54. Jinan Nabuyungo Nakato and Tyrah Muganzi Dorothy also featured inside the top ten with 40 points each, while Paloma Kirabo, Keyshia Karen Mwangi, Nisha Pearl Najjuma and Crystal Katelyn Tendo Ssemanda all contributed significant points.

The men’s competition was similarly strong. Ethani Ssengooba topped the individual standings with 60 points, followed by teammate Peterson Inhensiko on 57. Jonathan Kaweesa, Alex Mwine Rumanyika and Kyle Christian Kimuli Kaweesa each collected 40 points, while Shaun Murungi Kairumba and Swarkorpf Thembo Katende Kyeyune also finished among the leading Ugandan scorers.

Mbanga was one of the clearest individual standouts for Uganda. The 14-year-old opened strongly in the 200m individual medley, qualifying first in 2:33.12, which was listed as a FEASSA record, before winning the final in 2:33.64. She followed that with victory in the 100m breaststroke, winning in 1:21.04 after setting another FEASSA record of 1:19.07 in the preliminaries. Her versatility was further demonstrated in the 50m breaststroke, where she won in 36.83 after qualifying in a record 36.54.

In the 50m butterfly for swimmers aged 15 and under, Tyrah Muganzi Dorothy won gold in 29.73, with teammate Gabriella Opolot taking silver in 31.22. Muganzi later completed another victory in the 100m butterfly, winning in 1:10.37, ahead of fellow Ugandan Nakasule Kalungi. Opolot was equally influential, winning the 50m backstroke in 33.25 and the 100m backstroke in 1:13.20. Nakasule added gold in the 50m backstroke for the 16-and-over category, while Kirabo Paloma and Keyshia Karen Mwangi also secured strong finishes in the butterfly and freestyle events.

The freestyle events provided further evidence of Uganda’s depth. Jinan Nakato won the 50m freestyle in 28.83, while Ssemanda finished third. Nakato and Ssemanda then went one-two in the 100m freestyle, clocking 1:04.56 and 1:05.00 respectively.

On the men’s side, Ssengooba was the standout performer. He won the 200m individual medley in 2:20.68, matching the listed FEASSA record, before taking gold in the 100m freestyle in a record 53.83. He also won the 50m freestyle in 24.44. His performances gave Uganda a dependable source of points in the sprint and medley events, while teammates ensured the team never became overly reliant on him.

Peterson Inhensiko was another key contributor, winning the 50m backstroke in a FEASSA-record 28.32 and the 100m backstroke in 1:04.00. He also finished second behind Ssengooba in the 50m freestyle. Meanwhile, Alex Mwine Rumanyika was outstanding in butterfly. He won the 50m butterfly in a record 26.71 and followed it with victory in the 100m butterfly in 1:00.34, also a FEASSA record. Jonathan Kaweesa added another sprint title, winning the boys’ 15-and-under 50m freestyle in a record 24.96.

Uganda also won all six relay events on the programme. The girls won both the 200m medley and 200m freestyle relays, while the boys also swept their two relay events. Uganda then completed the clean sweep by winning both mixed relays.

The margins were particularly telling. Uganda’s boys’ 200m medley relay finished in 1:51.32, ahead of Kenya’s 1:53.88, while the girls’ medley team clocked 2:09.81 compared with Kenya’s 2:15.53.

The mixed 200m medley relay was even more emphatic, with Uganda finishing in 2:00.39, more than ten seconds ahead of Kenya.

The relay results underline one of the defining features of Uganda’s campaign: the swimmers were not only capable of winning individually but could combine effectively as a team.

With Uganda winning every relay, topping both the men’s and women’s team standings, producing the leading individual scorer in the men’s competition and placing several swimmers near the top of the women’s rankings, the FEASSA 2026 championship became a clear statement of regional strength.

Uganda did not merely win the championship; it controlled it across the individual races, relays, medal table and team points, a performance that reflected depth as much as star quality.

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The future of Ugandan swimming will once again be on full display this weekend as more than 700 young swimmers from across the country converge at Kampala Parents School in Naguru for the fourth edition of the Hertz Invitational Swimming Gala.

This competition has rapidly grown into one of the country’s most significant junior swimming events.

Scheduled for August 1-2, this year’s gala marks an important milestone in the event’s history. For the first time since its inception in 2023, the competition will be held over two days, reflecting both the remarkable growth in participation and the increasing importance of providing quality competition opportunities for developing swimmers.

Unlike Uganda’s National Swimming Championships, which feature the country’s top-performing athletes, the Hertz Invitational has carved out a unique identity by focusing exclusively on swimmers aged 14 years and below.

According to Hertz Swim Club Chairman and Head Coach Aksam Magoola, the competition was created to provide young swimmers with an opportunity to race on a major stage, particularly those who narrowly missed qualifying for the national championships.

Instead of ending their season without meaningful competition, the gala allows these young athletes to measure their improvement, gain valuable racing experience and build confidence before progressing to higher levels of competition.

The event has become an important checkpoint for coaches as well, offering a chance to evaluate the effectiveness of months of training and identify areas for further development during the second half of the year.

The inaugural competition was held in 2023, then returned in 2024 and 2025, with each edition attracting more swimmers and clubs. Coach Magoola noted that the event has experienced steady growth over the years, with the 2025 edition drawing more than 800 swimmers and setting what he described as the highest attendance ever recorded for a swimming event in Uganda.

For the 2026 edition, organizers expect approximately 700 swimmers representing around 25 to 30 clubs, another indication of the competition’s continued popularity among clubs and swimming families across the country.

The increase in participation is one of the main reasons the event has expanded into a two-day competition.

According to Magoola, extending the gala over two days will allow the program to run more smoothly while also giving swimmers adequate recovery time between races, enabling them to perform at their highest level.

The competition caters for a range of age groups, including:

• 6 years and under
• 7–8 years
• 9–10 years
• 11–12 years
• 13–14 years

Younger swimmers compete over 25-metre distances, while athletes in the older age groups race over 50 metres and selected 100-metre events, including the Individual Medley (IM).

The program features all four competitive strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle, providing comprehensive racing opportunities across the sport.

Magoola expressed particular excitement about the 6-and-under category, describing it as one of the biggest success stories of this year’s event.

Unlike previous editions, where many of the youngest swimmers competed only in freestyle races, the 2026 programme has expanded to include butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke events, allowing first-time competitors to experience a wider range of competitive swimming.

For many of these children, the Hertz Invitational will represent their first experience competing before large crowds against swimmers from other clubs.

Uganda has established itself as one of the strongest nations within the CANA Zone III region, and Magoola believes maintaining that standard depends on continually developing young talent through regular, meaningful competition.

The Hertz Invitational therefore serves as more than just another event on the calendar—it is part of the country’s athlete development pathway, helping young swimmers become comfortable with competition long before they reach national and international championships.

Uganda Aquatics, which sanctions the competition, will oversee officiating and timing to ensure the event meets national standards for competition management and athlete safety.

Assistant captain Andrew Katumba expressed confidence that the team would challenge strongly for medals after months of training, while emphasising the club’s determination to continue improving individual performances.

Captain Clarissa Mara Sosigome said she was looking forward to seeing hundreds of swimmers enjoy themselves, make new friends and experience the excitement of competing against athletes from clubs across Uganda.

Coach Magoola identified several promising Hertz swimmers expected to make an impact during the competition.

Among those highlighted are Israel Kajura Murungi, Anouk Lwanga, Jevon Twesigomwe and  Zion Namanya, all of whom recently represented the club at the Mako Sharks Summer Invitational Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, where they delivered impressive performances.

The coach believes the quartet will carry that momentum into the Hertz Invitational, where they will continue to establish themselves among Uganda’s emerging swimming talents.

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