Fresh off lowering her Ugandan national records in the 50-meter freestyle (26.01) and 50-meter breaststroke (33.75) at this week’s Africa Senior Championships, 17-year-old Kirabo Namutebi won’t be competing at next week’s World Junior Championships due to what her mom claims is an “unfair selection process.”
Namutebi, a co-flag bearer for Uganda at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, has endured a busy summer. First there was the ISF World School Games in May, then the World Championships in late June, the Commonwealth Games in late July, and both the Islamic Solidarity Games and Africa Senior Championships earlier this month.
Uganda Swimming Federation (USF) technical vice president Tonny Kasujja said the decision to keep Namutebi off the country’s World Juniors roster was made with her recovery and future in mind. The USF instead chose two girls, Swagiah Mubiru and Tara Ann Mary Naluwoza, to make the trip to Peru for World Juniors along with two boys, Steve Brendel Magera and Lumonya Joshua Elijah Wabwire.
“She has already had many events over a short time, even outside the recommended ‘long-term athletic development program,’ yet it is what the federation is following,” Kasujja said of Namutebi. “So this has been to create an environment for her to recover and improve.
“This is our only senior swimmer so we have to protect her, and so she should not lose hope. Whereas we need her performance we can’t underlook the element of continuity. But her manager can also write to the federation because it has the final say on who can represent; ours was technical advice and guidance.”
Namanda Hadija, the mother and manager of Namutebi, called it “absurd” to deny her daughter an opportunity to compete at her last junior swimming championship before she turns 18 in February. Hadija argued that her daughter’s training has given her the tools to take on such a strenuous schedule.
“I manage and have prepared my children for the big stages over the years since they were months old,” Hadija wrote in her letter to the USF last month. “Double session 4 a.m. and 4 p.m. as of now. Doing big mileages on a daily basis. It’s radical to use the fatigue rationale to discredit her participation at the World Juniors. Benchmarking a few like the FINA, ISL, and other sports where top swimmers swim across different cities at high intensity without falling out apart from injuries.
“The swimming federation still has a window to take as many swimmers as you want even out of merit since numbers are not limited. The same technical committee can make extra choices for any extra athletes needed.”
Hadija also expressed concern with a potential conflict of interest among the selection committee. She said she still hasn’t received a response from the USF regarding her appeal.
There’s no question whether Namutebi is qualified to represent Uganda. At last month’s selection event, she won gold medals in all 15 of her races. After her latest performances at the African Senior Championships in Tunisia, she’s now more than a second faster in the 50 free than any Ugandan woman in history, having long surpassed Jamila Lunkuse’s previous national record of 27.43 that stood for eight years. In the 50 breast, Namutebi is nearly a second faster than Lunkuse’s prior mark of 34.62.
Hadija credits Namutebi’s recent success to the year she spent training with her brother, Tendo Mukalazi, on scholarship together at the FINA Development Centre in Kazan, Russia.
Namutebi first broke the Ugandan national record in the 50 free at age 14, posting a 26.98 at the 2019 World Junior Championships. Later that summer, she won two gold medals and a silver at the 2019 Africa Junior Championships became the first Ugandan to top the podium at the meet.
the title of the article is a bit patronizing.
“Prepared my children for the big stages over the years since they were months years old”
I rarely agree with governing bodies, but it actually sounds like the Uganda is correct in worrying about the long term development of this athlete.
There’s a 4 in the morning now?