The CANA Zone III games are set to take place in Uganda at Kampala International School Uganda (KISU) between 9th -12th December.
The Championships are hosted yearly by and competed for by East African member countries with a few added member states like Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Sudan which belong to other Zones. However due to COVID 19, the Championships didn’t take place in 2020.
The 2019 CANA Zone III Championships which were held in Kenya, Uganda came in second place. The Championships comprise of different age groups which are 12 – 18 years of age till the open category that has participants above the age of 18.
The Secretary General of Uganda Swimming Federation, Max Kanyerezi, however expressed fear over the participants turn up for the Championships given the current security situation that country is undergoing.
He stated: “The bomb blasts that happened recently have led to so many countries calling to understand the situation on ground and how safe it is for them to participate in the Championships. We hope that the situation gets better.”
The countries that have confirmed participation are Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Sudan.
Uganda will field 15 players under two groups; Uganda A and Uganda B.
However key players such as Tendo Kirabo Namutebi won’t be available for the games given that the competitions are taking place just a week before the FINA World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi next month.
“One of our fastest girls, Tendo Namutebi Kirabo won’t be participating in the games as she will be engaged in preparations for the World Championships in Abu Dhabi. So we shall have a number of our top performers miss out on the Championships,” stated Max.
CANA Zone III & IV Championships were last held jointly in 2014 Kampala, Uganda, and effective from 2015, Zone III countries have been hosting the Championships.
Uganda hosted the 1st edition in 2015, Rwanda the 2nd edition in 2016, Tanzania the 3rd edition in 2017, Sudan the 4th edition in 2018 and Kenya the 5th Edition in 2019.
The 6th Edition was due in 2020 in Kampala – Uganda but was postponed to 2021 due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
