Kenya is among the countries lined up for the Africa Aquatics Zone III Swimming Championships in Kampala, Uganda, from October 21-25, with 16 swimmers set to represent the country in the open water category.
Kenya Aquatics open water coordinator Heize Kahindo is confident the discipline’s growing popularity in the country will translate into a strong medal challenge in Kampala. “Open water has been growing in the country for the last couple of years, and we will be sending a strong and formidable team to the championship in Uganda,” said Kahindo.
Kenya will compete against hosts Uganda, continental powerhouses South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Botswana, Rwanda and other countries. Kahindo expects leading African nation, South Africa, to provide the stiffest challenge but believes Kenya has the quality to remain competitive.
“We have a strong group of swimmers, and most likely our strongest challenger will be South Africa, who are the leading nation on the continent, but we can push them all the way and be competitive in the competition,” he said.
The Kampala championships will feature 3km and 5km open water races, testing swimmers’ endurance, pacing and speed over the respective distances.
Ahead of the Zone III event, Kahindo is hopeful the Ministry of Sports will release funding to enable Kenya to compete at the Africa Cup Open Water Championship in Senegal on September 25-26. “If we do get a chance to go to the event, it will be important as it will give us solid preparation and exposure ahead of the Zone 3 event in Kampala in October,” he said.
Kahindo added that Kenya Aquatics has developed a long-term athlete development plan targeting the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, which has already been submitted to the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK). Kenya is targeting qualification for at least two swimmers, one male and one female, in the 10km marathon swim at the Los Angeles Games.
Additional swimmers who attain the required qualification standards will also be considered as Kenya seeks to build stronger representation in one of the most demanding events on the Olympic swimming programme.
