Black Panthers win the Dolphins Junior Swimming Championship

The Black Panthers Swim Club girls were in top form, scoring 176 points to help their team win the Dolphins Junior Swimming Championships on Sunday at the Kampala Parents School.

Their boys team added 140 points for coming fourth in their division, giving them a total of 376 points and securing their second major title after winning the Hertz Invitational Swimming Gala championship last year.

The Dolphins finished second overall with 363 points, while the Jaguars Swim Club came in third with 323 points in the two-day event for young swimmers aged 5-11, which drew over 400 participants.

The standouts for the champions included Michaela Mwesigwa, 7, and Abraham Munabi, 9, who collected 33 and 38 points, respectively. But it was Jaguars’ Harvey Ssengendo and Silverfin Academy’s Kristian Mugumya Bwisho who gathered the most points (43 apiece), followed by Aqua Akii Swim Club’s Aya Adams who collected 40 and Otters’ Pearl Nisha Najjuma who amassed 33.

Mwesigwa (23.72) beat her teammate Gabriela Asangaasa (24.21) as she won the 25m backstroke race, where Tornado’s Elma Iremera (24.27) picked bronze in the 5-7 years category.

L-R: Silverfin's Kristian Bwisho, Dolphins Malachi Ssali and Otters Shane Mugenyi pose with their medals they won from the 50m butterfly at the Dolphins Junior Championships at Kampala Parents School pool. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

On his part, Munabi (19.48) in the boys’ 8-9 years category beat Jaguars Austin Wanyama and Aqua Akii’s Tzion Tamale by 45 and 93 microseconds, respectively, over the same distance.

Wanyama, 9, though, showed more endurance as he beat both Munabi (1:34.07) and Tamale (1:34.98) in the 100m IM which he won in 1:29.10.

Ssengendo was also unstoppable in the boys 5-7 years 100m IM, where he clocked a personal best of 1:48.43 in picking gold ahead of Black Panthers’ DeAndre M. Sansa-Heath (2:05.38) and Gliders Raphael Wobugabe (2:07.58).

In the boys’ 10-11 year’s cluster, it was Mugumya who prevailed in the 200m IM after he made 2:49.15 ahead of Giovanni Cruz Mbanga of the Jaguars and Dolphins’ Baraka Kaumi, who made 3:01.53 and 3:02.10, respectively. There were also outstanding performances from Aqua Akii’s Adams Aya, who beat Gliders Siima Nalwoga, Sonia Amara, and Husnah Kajumbi Singa in the girls’ 8-9 25m butterfly and freestyle races.

The champions also dominated the relays, winning the girls 5-7 and 8-9-year-old 100m Medley Relays ahead of the Gliders and Ozpreys and ahead of the Gliders and Aqua Akii in both categories, respectively.

The Dolphins also shone in the boys and girls 8-9 100m freestyle relays, beating the Jaguars and Aqua Akii and the Silverfin Academy, respectively, while the Silverfin in turn took the boys’ 10-11 years 200m freestyle relay race ahead of the Jaguars and Sailfish, as the Jaguars dominated the girls and boys 5-7 category ahead of the Black Panthers, Gliders, and the Dolphins.

Combined team scores

Black Panthers 376pts

Dolphins Swim Club 363

Jaguar Swim Club 323

Silverfin Academy 314

Ozpreys Swim Club 204. 50

Gliders Swim Club 180

Otters Swim Club 133. 50

Sailfish Swim Club 99. 50

Aquatic Academy 90. 5

Torpedoes Swim Club 36

Vision for Africa International 29

Tornado's Swim Club 26

Tumaini Aquatic Academy 25

Lions Swim Club Kampala 23

Hertz Swim Club 8  

Orcas Swimming Club 4