For Uganda’s swimming fraternity, the road to continental competition is increasingly being built in the domestic pool. The recently concluded Dolphins Fast and Furious 2026 provided another important step on that journey, bringing together swimmers from across the country for two days of intense short-course racing at the 9th edition of the gala.
For Coach Tonny Kasujja, Dolphins Swim Club Kampala head coach and Uganda Aquatics Vice President Technical, the significance of the competition goes beyond medals and finishing positions. It is about creating swimmers who are ready to move from national competition to the continental stage.
That pathway will be tested again when Uganda hosts the Africa Aquatics Zone III Championships in October.
As Uganda Aquatics Vice President Technical and head coach of Dolphins Swim Club, Kasujja has a close view of both sides of the equation: the development of young swimmers through domestic competition and the demands of representing Uganda against swimmers from across the region.
Kasujja is confident about Uganda’s prospects at Zone III, particularly after what he saw from the swimmers at Fast and Furious.
Most of the athletes expected to feature in the Zone III teams have also competed at Fast and Furious, allowing the coaching team to assess their form and readiness.
“They’ve shown that they are ready; they are performing well,” Kasujja says, noting that many of the swimmers who performed strongly at the gala were also among those who broke records.
That performance, he believes, provides an encouraging platform as the swimmers intensify their preparations for Zone III.
Uganda has historically been a dominant force at the zonal championships, and Kasujja believes that experience has given the country’s swimmers an important psychological advantage.
“We’ve got experience, our swimmers have got confidence, they can perform really well,” he says.
The progress is particularly visible in Uganda’s age-group swimming, where young athletes continue to post improved performances and challenge existing records.
And with the Zone III Championships being held on home soil, Uganda will have more than just its swimmers on its side.
Kasujja points to the advantage of having athletes who may not ordinarily have the financial means to travel for major competitions competing at home, creating deeper and more competitive races.
There will also be parents, spectators and supporters around the pool, an atmosphere he believes can give Uganda’s swimmers an additional lift.
For Kasujja, therefore, the challenge is not simply about preparing a select group of athletes. It is about using the entire home environment to create the strongest possible competitive advantage.
Before Zone III, however, the swimmers had to put themselves through the Fast and Furious test.
The Dolphins Fast and Furious Gala, held on September 5–6, was the ninth edition of the competition and the second in which swimmers were rewarded financially for breaking records.
The results showed just how much the event has grown. According to Kasujja, 26 records were broken from the 50 records available for challenge, a dramatic increase from the approximately 11 records broken at last year’s edition.
For Kasujja, the numbers are evidence of progress. “We are really happy with the results. We are happy with the swimmers. We are happy with the performances that have been shown,” he says.
For the swimmers, breaking a record is no longer only about seeing a new number beside their name. There is now a tangible reward attached to the achievement, something Kasujja believes has encouraged the athletes to push themselves harder.
Among the young swimmers to leave the gala with a new sense of belief was 10-year-old Dolphins swimmer Isaac Isabirye. Competing in the 9–10 age group, Isabirye broke the 50m butterfly record — a feat that even surprised him.
“I feel very happy about myself because even I didn’t expect to beat it,” he said, admitting that he did not consider butterfly his strongest event.
Rather than treating it as an unexpected high point, Isabirye sees it as a starting point.
“It inspires me to work even harder so I can beat more records,” he says.
The gala, he adds, also helped him produce new personal bests, another indication of how short-course racing can accelerate confidence and development in young swimmers.
For 15-year-old Theresa Kikambi, Fast and Furious provided something more than a good weekend in the pool. It capped a year in which she had gradually transformed her performances.
Kikambi emerged as the overall best swimmer in the 15-and-over girls at the gala, collecting gold in the 100m individual medley and 50m breaststroke, as well as bronze in the 50m backstroke. The official results confirm her victory in the 15-and-over 100m individual medley, where she finished first in 1:13.26.
Kikambi says her times had improved compared with her performances at the National League and the competition in Kasarani, with several personal bests along the way.
“I’ve definitely trained more,” she explains. She has also worked on visualising her races before competition and improving her diet, joking that there has been “Less KFC, Less CJs” in her routine.
“I think it’s helped me end on a good note,” she says. “It’s given me motivation to work even better next year and reach greater heights.”
Kikambi will now carry that momentum into the Africa Aquatics Zone III Championships, where she will compete in the 15–16 age group. For her, the continental competition offers something different: new opponents, new experiences and another opportunity to test how far her improvement can take her.
“I’m looking forward to competing with new people that I haven’t seen before,” she says. She is also looking forward to racing alongside friends, producing personal bests and enjoying the experience
Kikambi knows that making the Zone III team is not automatic. It requires an athlete to be among the best in the country.
For her, the qualification is therefore proof that the work has begun to pay off.
Balancing school and swimming has not always been easy, but the discipline required in both areas has brought her to this point. “It has shown that I’m bearing the fruits of my hard work,” she says.
Kasujja sees Fast and Furious as much more than an entertaining competition. Coming shortly after the Nationals and following a period when many swimmers have been away on holiday, the gala serves as what he describes as a “quick starter” for the second half of the year’s competitive programme.
It gets swimmers racing again. And, importantly, it gets them competing. The short-course format places a premium on speed, turns, reactions and race execution qualities that can become crucial as swimmers progress. Kasujja also points to the changing international swimming landscape, with the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic programme including 50m events in all four strokes. That makes speed development increasingly important.
For young swimmers especially, he says, there is something powerful about simply getting into the water and racing. “They enjoy being able to race and have a lot of speed,” he explains.
Fast and Furious therefore becomes a development tool: a place where young swimmers can experiment, chase personal bests, challenge records and discover what they are capable of.
And with Zone 3 approaching, Uganda’s next test is no longer simply about breaking records at home; it is about seeing how that progress translates when the region comes to the pool.