After winning four of the last five Uganda Aquatics National Championships, there is no doubt that Gators are the standard bearers for swimming in the country.
We have mostly witnessed those standards in how they competed to win the Nationals from 2022 to 2025 and also stayed on the podium this year.
But from August 15-16, the most successful club in the recent past will also share how they organize when they bring the fraternity together for the inaugural Gators Invitational Gala at Kampala Parents School, Naguru.
“We wanted to do some thing less replicated,” coach Muzafaru Muwanguzi told Daily Monitor.
Most clubs have been organizing sprint galas which attract numbers especially for younger swimmers but Gators seem focused on quality.
“Initially, we wanted to also have preliminaries and finals but due to limited time we excluded that part.
“Our gala’s difference lies in the nature of events picked. It has sprint and middle distance events but also restricts in form of age categories. We start from 10 years, excluding swimmers that are nine years and below.”
Usually, Uganda Aquatics has run with the 10 and Under, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, plus the 17 and Over age groups. Most clubs run the same but break down the 10 and Under to 9-10, 7-8, plus 6 and Under during junior competitions.
However, Gators will have 10-11, 12-13, 14-15, 16-17, plus 18 and Over. It means those that have been top of their age groups in other galas could face steep competition yet again.
Nothing is obvious yet but Muwanguzi hopes that “the way the age groups are set up brings more competition.”
Dates: August 15-16
Day One: 200m freestyle, 50m breaststroke, 100m backstroke, 100m individual medley, 50m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 200m breaststroke, 4x50m medley relay
Day Two: 200m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m backstroke, 50m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 4x50m freestyle relay