For Pendo Kaumi, swimming has always been about more than touching the wall first.
At 19, the Dolphins Swim Club swimmer is preparing to step away from competitive swimming for a while as he heads abroad to begin the next chapter of his education. But before he leaves the pool behind, even temporarily, Kaumi has one more gala to look back on, one more story to tell and plenty of memories to carry with him.
A swimmer from Dolphins, Kaumi has been part of the Africa Aquatics Zone III Swimming Championships since the Covid-19 period. This year, however, he will not be competing at the event, a reality that marks a significant change for a swimmer who has experienced the championship repeatedly.
Had he taken part this year, it would have been his sixth Zone III championship.
And after years of competing at the event, he understands exactly what makes it special.
“Zone III is very impactful in that it helps you understand the different levels of competition,” Kaumi explains.
For him, the value of Zone III lies in taking swimmers beyond the familiar.
At regular club competitions, swimmers often find themselves racing against the same people- friends and training partners they know well, people they see almost every day and are accustomed to trying to beat.
Zone III changes that dynamic. “You’re racing against people you don’t know, people you’ve never met,” he says. “Some of them are very fast, some of them are your speed, some are slow. It just helps you understand and see things on the international stage.”
That exposure, Kaumi believes, is particularly important because Zone III is designed to help develop swimmers and expose them to a higher level of competition.
With this year’s championship taking place in Uganda, he believes the home advantage can make the experience even more meaningful for first-time participants.
“I believe the veterans, the people who have gone for Zone III multiple times, are going to be helping the first-timers a lot, especially because it’s in our country, Uganda,” he says.
For the newcomers, competing at home provides an opportunity to learn without the added challenge of travelling to a foreign country.
“They’ll be competing on home ground, which will give them the best advantage to perform as well as they can,” Kaumi adds.
For a young swimmer entering Zone III for the first time, he believes the combination of new competition, experienced teammates and the familiarity of home can provide an ideal learning environment.
While the Zone III Championships represent a new generation of swimmers coming through the ranks, Kaumi is himself standing at the edge of a new chapter.
The past year has been one of uncertainty. With university preparations on the horizon, he was unsure whether to continue swimming or step away completely and concentrate on school.
“I didn’t know if I wanted to completely stop everything and just focus on preparing for school, or keep swimming as I’m preparing for school,” he says.
At the same time, Kaumi was involved in another programme with Watoto church, an experience he describes as equally impactful.
Swimming consequently took a back seat for a period, something that was reflected in his performances during League competition.
“We had League, I didn’t really perform that well in League because I wasn’t focused on swimming by then,” he admits. “I was focused more on my school and Watoto.”
But Nationals provided a different challenge. With no room for excuses, Kaumi had to get himself ready. “I had to get ready for Nationals, since there’s no excuse for not being ready.” The effort paid off. “Nationals was fantastic,” he recalls, adding that he finished third in his event.
For Kaumi, it was a satisfying way to close out this phase of his swimming journey.
“This has been my last gala for now before I go to school,” he says. “My next gala will probably be next year.”
His final gala before heading abroad was the Dolphins Fast and Furious 2026 Gala, an event that brought together the Dolphins community and gave Kaumi an opportunity to enjoy the environment he has grown accustomed to over the years.
The gala was more than just another competition for him. It was a farewell of sorts.
Kaumi knows that once he leaves for university, he will miss the people who have become an important part of his swimming life. “I will miss Dolphins so much,” he says.
And true to the warmth and humour that he associates with the club, he already has a plan for his return. “I promise to bring some chocolate for everyone when I come back.” He says with a big smile.
Perhaps the biggest legacy of his time at Dolphins will not be the races he won or the times he recorded, but the person swimming helped him become.
As one of the older swimmers in the club, Kaumi gradually found himself becoming a role model for the younger athletes around him.
That responsibility changed the way he viewed himself.
“Being one of the older swimmers, I’m inclined to take care of the swimmers around me, give them motivation, give them correction when they need it,” he says.
But mentoring others also meant holding himself to a higher standard.
“It’s made me watch what I do myself more,” he explains. “Be careful around my actions, what I say, how I act around the younger people.”
The experience, he believes, has helped him mature and may even make the transition into university life easier.
“I believe that it’s making me a more mature person, that I’m not going to have that much of a trouble when I go to university.”
Dolphins has also given Kaumi something that extends far beyond sport: the ability to build relationships with different people. He describes the club as a place where people are friendly, open and constantly interacting.
“Relating with people, first of all, I’m going to enjoy relations because we’re a very friendly club,” he says. “The community is great, everyone’s super, super talkative and we enjoy it.”
That sense of community may ultimately be what he misses most when he leaves.
For now, though, Kaumi is embracing the transition.
His swimming journey is not necessarily over. It is simply entering a different phase.
The pool has taught him how to compete, Zone III taught him how to measure himself against swimmers beyond his familiar surroundings, and Dolphins taught him how to lead, encourage and grow alongside others.
Now, university will offer a different kind of race, one where the finish line is not marked on a pool wall. And when he eventually returns, perhaps to another gala and another race, Pendo Kaumi will return with new experiences, new stories and, if his promise holds, some chocolate for the Dolphins family he leaves behind.
Pendo Kaumi is moving to Budapest, Hungary, for university, joining his elder brother Tendo Kaumi.