Uganda has dominated the 2026 Federation of East Africa Schools Sports Association (FEASSA) swimming championships in Morogoro, Tanzania, winning 51 medals after two days of competition.
Uganda collected 28 gold, 16 silver and seven bronze medals to comfortably top the medal table ahead of Kenya, which won 37 medals, while hosts Tanzania managed eight.
Uganda also dominated the team standings with 1,169 points, compared to Kenya’s 1,007 and Tanzania’s 550. The Ugandan women led their category with 589 points, while the men topped theirs with 580 points.
The performance has been attributed to Uganda’s hard work, with several swimmers contributing medals and points across different events.
Fourteen-year-old Zara Marie Mbanga was among Uganda’s standout performers, winning gold in the 200m individual medley, 100m breaststroke and 50m breaststroke.
Mbanga set FEASSA records in the preliminaries of all three events before going on to win the respective finals.
Speaking about her performance, Mbanga said the results have given her confidence to continue working harder and competing at a higher level.
“I am happy with the medals and the records, but I know there is still more work to do. I want to keep training hard, improve my times and represent Uganda well in future competitions,” Mbanga said.
Tyrah Muganzi Dorothy also impressed in the girls’ events, winning the 50m and 100m butterfly, while Gabriella Opolot won the 50m and 100m backstroke.
Rahmah Nakasule Kalungi added another gold in the 50m backstroke for the 16-and-over category, while Jinan Nabuyungo Nakato won the 50m freestyle and later teamed with Crystal Katelyn Tendo Ssemanda to finish first and second respectively in the 100m freestyle.
On the men’s side, Ethani Ssengooba emerged as Uganda’s leading performer, winning the 200m individual medley, 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle.
Peterson Inhensiko claimed gold in the 50m and 100m backstroke, while Alex Mwine Rumanyika dominated the butterfly events, winning the 50m and 100m butterfly, both in FEASSA-record times.
Jonathan Kaweesa added another victory by winning the boys’ Under-15 50m freestyle in a record 24.96 seconds.
Uganda completed its dominance by winning all six relay events on the programme, including the boys’, girls’ and mixed relays.
The boys’ 200m medley relay finished in 1:51.32, ahead of Kenya’s 1:53.88, while the girls’ team clocked 2:09.81 against Kenya’s 2:15.53. Uganda’s mixed 200m medley relay was even more convincing, finishing in 2:00.39, more than ten seconds ahead of Kenya.
Moses Benon Mwase, the President of Uganda Aquatics, said the results demonstrate the strength of Uganda’s swimming development programmes, particularly at the school level.
“This performance is a reflection of the talent and hard work within Ugandan swimming. Winning across individual and relay events shows that we are developing swimmers with both individual quality and the ability to compete as a team,” Mwase said.
The results have placed Uganda firmly at the top of the regional schools swimming championship, with the team dominating the medal table, individual rankings, relays and overall team points-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
