Kantu: Shedding burdens of weight to carrying national dreams

Fredrick Kantu Luzinda has got discipline beyond his years.

The 14 year old swimmer has been on a self-control journey for the past four years that could leave many of us adults marvel. Even more compelling is the transparency and vulnerability with which he shares his rather practical experience with weight loss.

In 2021, Kantu, as he is popularly known, came out of the Covid-19 lockdown in what can be described as “terrible shape”.

He weighed 98kgs and that is considered overweight for an 11 year old on the body mass index chart. His friends at school and the pool mocked him. His own family let him know that he had literally crossed the line.

“I realized around September 2019 that I needed to lose weight,” Kantu recalls.

“Some of the people that I was beating (in the pool) were now faster and I realized the weight was dragging me down in the pool.

“I tried to work on it with my younger brother (Francis Luzinda Kange) but he gets lazy sometimes. Freda (Luzinda, his sister) is one of the people that made me want to lose weight while Babino (his cousin Swagiah Mubiru) encourages me a lot to keep pushing,” Kantu adds.

Even with this backing, Kantu took forever to act and then Covid-19 struck. The lack of outdoor activity at the time only worked to worsen the situation as Kantu withdrew into another hobby at their home in Ntinda.

“You know Kantu loves to cook and we baked a lot during that period. So, everything we baked, he tasted and before we knew it he had gained a lot of weight,” his mother Florence Nakakawa, who is also the treasurer of Uganda Swimming Federation (USF), shared.

Call to action

Eventually, the lockdown was lifted and the family could move out of their ‘enclosure’ and it was evident Kantu needed to do something about his weight.

“One day when we were in the village (Masaka), his dad saw his plate full of food during lunch and told him to change to a smaller plate that we usually use for breakfast.

“He told Kantu that he did not care how he filled that (small) plate as long as it was the one he used for his meals. He was just trying to manage his portions,” Nakakawa added.

Nakakawa believes this is the moment that turned things round. When they shared the plan with their coach Muzafaru Muwanguzi, he was even more positive.

“Kids listen to their coaches more than parents. When we told him he needed to lose weight, he did not believe that he could but when the coach assured him that it was possible and asked him to return to training, he was eager and quick to do so,” Nakakawa recalls.

The process

One of the most popular questions that swim coaches have to contend with is whether swimming alone can help with weight loss. Most people want to be able to eat whatever they want but also remain in shape – a classic case of eating one’s cake but also having it.

The answer according to coach Muzafaru Muwanguzi is somewhere in between.

“Swimming helps but most people do it wrongly. If one can consistently do a volume of 3,000m to 5,000m they can lose weight. However, when people, especially adults, learn to swim, they fail to find consistency.

“I have seen it with some of our swimmers. Some take long but as they grow older and taller, the weight reduces. Remember, what causes weight is the unused glucose in our bodies so if you do not have a workout that can burn a significant portion of it, you cannot lose weight,” Muwanguzi shares.

As you can already tell, doing it just in the pool is a long painful process. Kantu was willing to go through it all but fortunately for him he could work on his diet too.

The sacrifices

The Luzindas run Kamaama Farm in Masaka, where they mainly grow coffee, bananas, and also rear chicken for eggs.

It therefore became easier for them to watch their meals. Kantu and his siblings threw out the bread and replaced it with eggs for breakfast. Swimmers generally believe that wheat is not good for them so most of them avoid things like bread anyway.

However, when Kantu and his family feel like it, they can always have gluten-free wheat flour from their auntie in Kenya. This also helps when they want to have junk foods like pizza which all children love.

The processed snacks were replaced with home-made ones and when they are not readily available, they “snack on fruits, mainly sweet bananas. We make everything at home because we want to control the amount of oil that goes into everything.”

Many people out there are advised to ditch carbohydrates in order to lose weight. But imagine a Ugandan family having to ditch rice, posho, sweet potatoes or matooke entirely. It can be a dilemma finding what to feed on.

“Instead what we did was switch and have foods that are highly rich in carbs during lunch time (as he can do with the energy they give during his day activities and evening swimming training). Then our dinner is mostly matooke and groundnut paste. Those are also carbs but matooke has a lot of water and works for us.

"Initially, we took Kantu off rice for supper and he lost weight but we realized that his brother (Francis Luzinda Kange) kept on gaining weight when he stuck to rice. So, we are also introducing him to matooke for dinner,” Nakakawa explained.

Kantu also incorporated some light running in his schedule when he could not swim and everything combined has seen him lose about 28kg since mid-2021.

National team goals

“I am happy with 70kgs but I want to keep dropping to maybe 60kgs. I have lost most of the fat on my arms and a bit more on my thighs.

“I have now added some gym work, especially pull-ups so I can lift my own weight, as I want to get a bit more muscular, build abs and get more resistant in the water,” Kantu added.

In August, Kantu, a student at Aga Khan Academy, got his first national team call-up to represent Uganda at the Federation of East Africa Secondary School Sports Association (Feasssa) Games in Bukedea.

His performance at the USF National Championships, where he competed in the 13-14 boys’ age group attaining bronze in the 100m backstroke (1:12.89), silver medals in the 200m backstroke (2:37.25), and butterfly (2:46.74), has earned him a call up to represent Uganda at Cana Zone III Championships in Bujumbura Burundi in the 15-16 age group in the 200m fly.

It is clear Kantu is not settling for any tap on his back telling him well done. We are speaking at the climax of the second edition of the USF League at Kampala Parents School, Naguru and he is not happy with his performance over that weekend.

There was not much competition but he kept chasing the clock and was on the podium for 100m fly (1:14.80), won the 200m back with a new personal best (PB of 2:35.77), had a PB in the 200m individual medley (2:47.33), and missed a couple of others.

“I am not very proud of this weekend. I could have done better but I was taken to the village after nationals yet I wanted to stay and train.

“My goal is to be very good in middle distance events, especially for fly and back, then improve on my sprinting, and be on the national team for years to come,” Kantu reveals.

He also believes he has nothing to prove to anyone but himself. However, he recognizes that without the mockery, competition, and the support that came when he eventually decided to start, he would never be where he is.

“I want to thank some of the people I studied with and those I was swimming with but stopped or went abroad. Without them, I would not be here because they were the competition that has kept me going.

For those who want to learn something from this (weight loss journey), I want to say that the voice that tells you to start tomorrow, do not listen to it because you should be starting now,” Kantu says.

At a glance

Name: Fredrick Kantu Luzinda

Sport: Swimming

Club: Gators

Date of birth: November 18, 2009

Parents: Fredrick Luzinda & Florence Nakakawa

School: Aga Khan Academy

Class: Year 10 (Equivalent of S.3)