Uganda Sweep the Relays, but Somalia and Djibouti Write Day 2's Headlines

11th Edition Africa Aquatics Zone III Swimming Championships 2026 | Day 2 (Events 27 to 76) | results

KAMPALA, Uganda, 22 October 2026 - On a day when hosts Uganda won every one of the eight relays contested, it would be easy to write the second session of the 11th Africa Aquatics Zone III Swimming Championships as a story of one nation pulling away. The scoreboard supports that reading. But the moments that mattered most for the future of the zone came from the far ends of the start list, where Somalia and Djibouti each won their first medals of the championships.

The longest session of the meet featured 40 individual events and eight relays, with 145 swimmers from seven nations recording 335 swims, 305 of them individual and 30 in relays.

New names on the podium

Aya Ofleh Adams is 11 years old and one of only two swimmers representing Somalia in Kampala. In the girls' 12 and under 50m backstroke she touched in 35.17 to take silver, only 0.32 seconds behind Uganda's Mushira Nabatanzi (34.85) and four hundredths ahead of Tanzania's Camilla Kyenekiki (35.21). It is the kind of result that does not move a medal table very far, but may move a national programme a long way.

Djibouti's breakthrough came in the boys' 17 and over 100m backstroke. Barkat Houmed Houssein, 22, entered without a seed time and split the Ugandan pair of Matthew Mwase (1:02.97) and Shaun Kairumba Murungi (1:03.97) to claim silver in 1:03.65.

Burundi added two bronzes. Belly Cresus Ganira, 26, finished third in the boys' 17 and over 100m butterfly in 1:00.56, and Alyse Leilla Maniriho collected her second medal of the meet with bronze in the girls' 17 and over 200m breaststroke (3:34.83). Rwanda's teenagers kept knocking on the door: Kean Murenzi Sheja took silver in both the boys' 13-14 100m butterfly (1:02.69) and the 200m freestyle, where he finished just 0.18 seconds behind Tanzania's Max Missokia, while Jayden Ntwali missed 100m backstroke gold by 0.16 seconds to Kenya's Abdulkadir Abdulkadir (1:04.37). Even the battle for fourth place carried meaning: Rwanda edged Burundi by 0.08 seconds in the boys' 15 and over medley relay, 1:58.65 to 1:58.73.

The relay statement

Uganda's eight relay golds came in different shapes. The mixed 15 and over 4x50m freestyle was a demolition, with the hosts' 1:38.38 more than nine seconds clear of Tanzania (1:47.50). The mixed 14 and under medley was a fight, Uganda holding off Kenya by 0.46 seconds in 2:03.53. Behind them, Kenya and Tanzania traded blows for the minor medals, separated by 0.10 seconds in the girls' 14 and under medley and 0.20 seconds in the boys' equivalent. Kenya finish the day with four relay silvers and four bronzes, Tanzania with four silvers and three bronzes.

The relay sweep raises a fair question for the rest of the zone. Uganda's ability to field complete, competitive teams in every age group is the product of numbers, and numbers are the hardest thing for smaller federations to build.

Three swimmers, three golds each

Kenya's Katja Kimani, still only 12, won three titles: the 100m butterfly in 1:11.92, the 100m backstroke in 1:13.92 without a seed time, and the 200m freestyle in 2:26.41, where teammate Athena Diamantidis pushed her to within 0.35 seconds.

Uganda's Gabriella Opolot matched that with victories in the girls' 13-14 100m butterfly (1:10.22), 50m backstroke (32.01) and 100m backstroke (1:08.78). Tanzania's Filbertha Demello went one better, winning the girls' 17 and over 100m butterfly (1:12.32), 50m backstroke (31.83) and 100m backstroke (1:09.86) before adding silver in the 200m freestyle. After two days, Demello leads all swimmers with four golds, a silver and a bronze. Opolot has four golds and a silver, and Marie Mbanga Zara, who added the girls' 15-16 200m breaststroke (2:50.32) and 200m freestyle (2:16.24), remains perfect with four golds from four swims.

Margins and statements

Matthew Mwase won the boys' 17 and over 50m backstroke by 0.07 seconds from teammate Daniel Rukundo, 28.00 to 28.07, before adding the 100m title. Rukundo had his own reward in the 200m breaststroke, winning in 2:24.89. Hakim Abdou, the Day 1 200m backstroke champion, completed a backstroke treble with the boys' 15-16 50m (28.02) and 100m (1:00.79), the latter by almost four seconds.

Some wins were emphatic. Gloria Muzito took the girls' 17 and over 200m freestyle by 17.69 seconds in 2:06.05, and Ibrahim Lule won the boys' 12 and under 200m breaststroke by 20.01 seconds in 2:45.94. Kenya's Nathan Matimu produced the only sub-two-minute 200m freestyle of the day, 1:58.72 ahead of Tanzania's Mark Tibazarwa (1:59.55), and took silver behind Uganda's Mathew Ryland Andrew (58.29) in the 100m butterfly. Thirteen-year-old Don Ndirangu added the boys' 13-14 100m butterfly (1:00.12) and 50m backstroke (29.15) to his Day 1 title.

Tanzania's youngest swimmers produced a one-two in the boys' 12 and under 100m backstroke through William Ng'wandu (1:16.07) and Oscar Liebchen (1:16.67), with Liebchen also winning the 200m freestyle (2:23.40). Julius Missokia led Zac Okumu home in the boys' 15-16 200m freestyle, and Nicolene Viljoen won the girls' 13-14 200m breaststroke. Kenya's Aisha Hassan (girls' 12 and under 200m breaststroke, 2:59.41), Harith Muses, Andrew Ogola and Abdulkadir also won individual titles, while Tyrah Muganzi, Payton Ssekitto, Brandy Nakimbugwe, Malachi Ssali and Paloma Kirabo added Ugandan golds.

What the numbers say

Uganda won 22 of the 40 individual titles, Kenya 10 and Tanzania 8. Of the 282 individual swims recorded against an entry time, 156 were faster. Uganda now hold 101 medals across individual and relay events, but the more interesting race may be for second, where Kenya and Tanzania are level on 14 individual golds each.

Day 3 brings 34 more individual events, the 4x100m freestyle relays and the 50m butterfly sprints, where the margins are thinnest of all.

Medal table: Day 2 (individual events, provisional)

Cumulative medal table after Day 2 (individual events, provisional)

Relay medal table after Day 2 (provisional, pending ratification)

Ranked by gold medals. Official points standings were not included in the provisional results file. Masters events (Events 47 and 48) and exhibition swims are excluded. Only two teams finished the girls' 15 and over medley relay (Event 37), so 23 relay medals were awarded.