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Siblings go for Olympic slots in Fukuoka
Stiff. Mukalazi faces tight competition for the men’s slot from mostly butterfly ace Jesse Ssengonzi, who actually hopes to meet at least the B-time qualifying mark for Paris. PHOTO/EDDIE CHICCO
What you need to know:
Mukalazi faces tight competition for the men’s slot from mostly butterfly ace Jesse Ssengonzi, who actually hopes to meet at least the B-time qualifying mark for Paris.
Swimming siblings Tendo Mukalazi and Kirabo Namutebi will have full focus on qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics when they compete at the ongoing World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Mukalazi faces tight competition for the men’s slot from mostly butterfly ace Jesse Ssengonzi, who actually hopes to meet at least the B-time qualifying mark for Paris.
But going to Fukuoka gives Mukalazi a head start in accumulating points that will be key if Uganda has to settle for universality slots in Paris. In Fukuoka, Mukalazi, 21, will compete in the 50m and 100m freestyle events, where he holds the national records at 23.87 and 52.62 seconds respectively.
The 100m free record was set in April at the National Championships in Hungary, where Mukalazi is on a swimming scholarship.
Namutebi on course
Meanwhile, his sister and Gators teammate, Namutebi is also a multi-national record holder but for now her concentration will equally be on the 50m (26.01) and 100m (59.80) free events.
Namutebi goes to Fukuoka keen on making more records. Unlike her brother, she is almost in an unassailable lead for that Paris slot, for the female swimmers, but she will also relish the competition.
At the recently concluded Uganda Swimming Federation (USF) National Championships (short course), Dolphins swimmer Gloria Muzito almost brought out the best in Namutebi in the 50m, 100m and 200m free.
Both girls went through the motions in the 200m with Muzito clocking 2:14.23 – almost 10 seconds away from her entry time but over eight seconds ahead of Namutebi, who had entered the race with a seed time of 2:15.00.
However, Muzito’s speed in the 100m free (56.01) propelled Namutebi to clock a personal best 58.48. She was previously oscillating between 59 seconds and over a minute.
The same happened in the 50m free, where Muzito clocked 25.55 pulling Namutebi to 25.82 – which is exactly the time the latter managed in the mixed 4*50m free relay at the short course Worlds in United Arab Emirates in 2021. It is also two microseconds better than her individual personal best of 25.84 managed at the Fina World Cup in Russia in 2021.
Open water
Meanwhile, Uganda showed yesterday morning that it is still light years away from the grid in open water swimming.
Swagiah Mubiru, who swam at 2am (Ugandan time) at the Seaside Momochi Beach Park in Fukuoka, did not finish her 5km event. For the men, who swam at 4am, Adnan Kabuye did not finish either but Hayyan Kisitu, 18, persevered to complete in just over one hour and 15 seconds.
But his time was about 22 minutes later than the 53.58 minutes managed by the winner of the race Florian Wellbrock, from Germany. The rules of the game dictate that only swimmers that complete the 5km within 15 minutes after the first finisher can get official times.
At a glance
Name: Tendo Mukalazi
Age: 21
Club: Gators
Base: Hungary
Major competitions: World Championships (both 25m and 50m), World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Africa Seniors, Africa Juniors
Events in Fukuoka: 50m free, 100m free
Name: Kirabo Namutebi
Age: 18
Club: Gators
Base: Uganda
Major competitions: Olympics, World Championships (both 25m and 50m), World Juniors, World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Africa Seniors, Africa Juniors
Events in Fukuoka: 50m free, 100m free
