Ahead of Uganda Aquatics League Meet Three, Tonny Kassujja, the head coach of Dolphins Swim Club Kampala, has discussed the club’s preparations, their ambitions for the Kenya Nationals at Kasarani, and the recent performances of Dolphins swimmers at the Africa Aquatics Swimming Championships in Algeria.
Speaking with confidence and excitement, Kasujja described this stage of the season as an important one for Dolphins Swim Club, especially with swimmers pushing for qualification to the National Championships through the Uganda Aquatics League series.
“We are preparing very well for League Meet Three,” Kasujja said. “Our swimmers look healthy and motivated to participate. Now that we know the goal is qualification for nationals, we want to qualify as many swimmers as possible.”
He emphasises that their training is focused on consistency, discipline and improving performances from the previous two league meets.
While he admitted the club had not fully achieved the standards they expected in the earlier meets, Kasujja remained optimistic about the progress made so far.
“Our previous performances have not been satisfactory for us, but at least we managed to qualify many swimmers,” he explained. “We just want to add on from there. The goal now is to train hard, stay healthy, stay happy, stay motivated and focus on qualification.”
Beyond the local league, Dolphins Swim Club is also preparing for the Kenya National Swimming Championships at Kasarani, an event Kasujja believes will offer crucial international exposure for his swimmers.
He explained that Dolphins intentionally schedules at least one international competition every year as part of the club’s development pathway.
“Kasarani is one of the events that is on our calendar as Dolphins. We always have an international event that we go to as a club,” he said. “On top of qualifying for national events, one of our goals is to expose our swimmers to competitions within East Africa and across the world.”
This year, the club has chosen the Kenya Nationals partly because of the opportunity to compete in a 50-metre-long course pool, something Uganda currently lacks.
“What makes it different from the Ugandan league is that we are going to swim in a 50-metre pool, which we do not have here in Uganda,” Kasujja noted. “Having a chance to expose our swimmers in a long-course pool is very good for their development and also challenges them to compete favourably at a higher level.”
Close to 30 Dolphins swimmers are expected to travel for the competition, with the club hoping to not only gain exposure but also compete strongly against some of the best swimmers in the region.
Kasujja is particularly excited about the heats-and-finals format that will be used in Kenya for sprint and middle-distance races.
“The other good thing with the Kasarani event is that there are heats and finals for the 50s, 100s and 200s,” he explained. “This gives our swimmers an opportunity to experience international competition practices where you swim in the morning and come back for finals in the evening.”
According to the coach, that kind of racing structure is still relatively new for many Ugandan swimmers and was one of the lessons picked from the recently concluded Africa Aquatics Junior and Senior Swimming Championships in Algeria.
“Most of the swimmers at Africa Aquatics were swimming two sessions in a day for the first time. If they had started earlier with such exposure, probably their performances would have been even better,” he said.
Despite the developmental focus, Kasujja made it clear that Dolphins will not simply travel to Kenya for participation purposes.
“Our aim is to qualify for finals, come back in the evening and swim again,” he said with a smile. “We also want to win. So, Kenya should watch out — Dolphins are coming.”
Kasujja also reflected proudly on the performances of Dolphins swimmers who represented Uganda at the continental championships in Algeria.
Out of the Ugandan team that travelled, three swimmers came from Dolphins Swim Club an achievement the coach believes says a lot about the club’s growth and competitiveness.
“As Dolphins Swim Club, we qualified three swimmers to represent the country out of close to ten swimmers who travelled,” he said. “That alone was a very big achievement for us.”
Among the standout performers was Gloria Muzito, who returned home with two gold medals, one silver and one bronze before being crowned the best swimmer of the tournament based on accumulated points.
“For me, what stood out most was not only the medals, but Gloria becoming the best swimmer at the tournament,” Kasujja said proudly. “She topped the performance rankings in terms of times and points accumulated, and that was really exciting for us.”
He also praised young swimmers Pendo and Samula for handling the pressure of competing at the continental level for the first time.
“The challenges were quite many because it was their first time at that level, but their performances were really good,” he said. “I liked the way they managed to improve their times during the competition. They are still young and still have a long way to go, but I am happy with them.”
As League Meet Three approaches and the Kenya Nationals draw closer, Kasujja believes Dolphins Swim Club is steadily building a strong culture of competitiveness, exposure and long-term athlete development.