Six swimmers for World Championships as they seek Olympic qualification

Uganda swimmers will take a second bite of the cherry when they compete in the World Aquatics Championship in Doha, Qatar starting February 2 to 18.

A team of six experienced swimmers that include Olympians Kirabo Namutebi and Atuhaire Ambala will represent the country at the championship that doubles as a qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The other swimmers to be led by national team coach Muzafar Muwanguzi include US-based Grand Canyon University’s Atuhaire Ambala, Florida State University’s Gloria Muzito and the University of Chicago’s Jesse Ssengonzi. The rest are local-based Swagia Mubiru, Kirabo Namutebi and his brother; Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship holder Tendo Mukalazi, who is based in Hungary.

The championship will provide the Ugandans and a host of other swimmers from around the world, the last chance to qualify for the Olympics on merit, over the 75 medal events that will be held.

Apart from Muzito who has a personal best of 22.17 and 49.23 in the 50m and 100m freestyle events, the rest of the team members have tested similar competition before in previous championships across the globe. A total of 852 athletes will compete in swimming at Paris 2024 with a maximum of 26 quotas for men and 26 for women available to each National Olympic Committee (NOC). For both the men’s and women’s competitions, each NOC will be eligible for a maximum quota of two athletes per individual event and one relay team per relay event.

The Ugandans and the rest of the participants yet to qualify will be aiming to hit the Olympic Qualification Time and or the Olympic Consideration Time that will be considered for qualification, with the latter slightly easier to achieve.

At the moment, the number of Universality places has not yet been determined, however it is understood that all NOCs that enter and compete in the FINA World Championships will have the opportunity to compete at Paris 2024.

But for the first time a Ugandan swimmer/s could qualify for the games on merit if their recent times in the pool are anything to go by, though the World Aquatics qualifying times for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris are featuring some extremely fast standards.

For example, the men’s Olympic A standard for the 50m freestyle events has been set at 21.96 and at 22.07 for the qualifying B time, while the 100m freestyle is at 48.34 and at 48.58 respectively.

The women’s standards for the same races are now at 24.70 and 24.82 for the 50m freestyle; A and B standards while the ones for the 100m are at 53.61 and 53.58 respectively.

For a country to earn a pair of invitations to the Games, two athletes must hit the A standard. A country will be permitted a single entry to an event if the B standard is met.