Sebanakitta sets modest goals for Singapore

 

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The engineer, who served in the Ministry of Works as Commissioner for Roads and later as first executive director at Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) in 2008, before taking a clean break just over 10 years ago intended to swim the course in western Canada in 60 minutes but did it in 51 minutes and 37 seconds.

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No one loves a challenge like masters swimmer Peter Ssebanakitta.

However, as he competes at the August 7-14 World Aquatics Masters Swimming Championships in Singapore where he started with the 100m breaststroke on Friday, Ssebanakitta is setting "modest goals."

It comes with the experience of managing expectations but also the fact that he had even more swimming goals to hit this year.

Singapore will be his second world masters competition after Doha last year.

Swimming in the 65-69 men’s age group in Doha, Ssebanakitta managed to fall within the time bracket for 100m breaststroke clocking 1:48.45, 50m breaststroke (42.79) and 50m freestyle (37.23) and while at it, he cut his entry times.

"Competition is stiff at world level. People in their 80s can give you a run for your money while swimming with people in your age group feels like taking on people that are much younger.

"Doha showed me that swimming is for life and that one has to work a lot on technique to be good. It is not really about brute strength," Ssebanakitta shared the lessons that have guided his preps for Singapore.

"Singapore is going to be tough but I will give my level best. I am not sure it will be as good as I did in Doha because I have not been hitting my personal bests in training. But I will try to beat the qualifying times. I am also still swimming for a long time, so next year, I will surely concentrate on my sprints," he added.

Father-son goals

Just a fortnight ago, Ssebanakitta and his son Troy took part in the 2.1km challenged dubbed 2025 Across the Lake Swim in Kelowna, Canada.

The engineer, who served in the Ministry of Works as Commissioner for Roads and later as first executive director at Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) in 2008, before taking a clean break just over 10 years ago intended to swim the course in western Canada in 60 minutes but did it in 51 minutes and 37 seconds.

"My son did it last year and since I like a challenge, I prepared to do it this year. I went to Smack (St. Mary's College Kisubi for his secondary education) and its there that I learnt to swim in Nabinonya Beach, which was about 1km. So, at least I knew I could handle a kilometre.

"For the last 12 months, I have been practicing and building stamina for this challenge. That has affected my preparations for Singapore a bit because of the inadequate time and also because the skillsets needed for both events are different.

"But I guess the adrenaline and competitiveness helped me swim faster than I had planned to. My son would have gone much faster but chose to swim alongside me," Ssebanakitta shared.

In and out

After Smack, where Ssebanakitta tried other sports like hockey, football, athletics, and volleyball among others, he continued to swim at Makerere University in the 1970s as he pursued his Civil Engineering Bachelor's degree - his second choice after he got to know that his initial interest in water engineering was getting him nowhere. He actually captained both the University and his hall (University Hall) swim teams.

"After university, life got in the way and I did not swim for maybe 15 to 20 years. But over the last 10 years, work slowed down and I was inspired by Don (Donald Rukare) our chairman at Formidables Swim Club to return.

"Don has a way of encouraging us and simplifying things we think are not possible. I have been active and tried to make myself available to train every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday," Ssebanakitta who is Formidables captain and has also represented Uganda at the Africa Aquatics Zone III Championships in Rwanda (2023) and Burundi (2024) plus the Zone IV Championships in Zambia (2022) and Botswana (2020) added.

Swimming has become his lifestyle and even when he was away from the sport, Ssebanakitta ensured his children pick interest in the sport.

"All of my children can swim. I must have influenced them because I used to swim with them. However, two of them also love Brazilian jiu jitsu and I don't know how they learnt it because I was never into martial arts. But I have also climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with two of them but I did not make it to Uhuru Peak (highest point) because I could not function well at high altitudes," Ssebanakitta shared.

Ssebanakitta at a glance

Name: Peter Ssebanakitta

Sports code: Masters swimming

Club: Formidables

Age group: 65-69 Men

Major events: World Aquatics Masters Championships (Singapore 2025, Doha 2024), Africa Aquatics Zone IV (Zambia 2022, Botswana 2020), Africa Aquatics Zone III (Burundi 2024, Rwanda 2023)

Races in Singapore: 100m breaststroke (August 8), 50m freestyle (August 11), 50m breast (August 13)

Profession: Civil Engineer

       

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