Coach Tonny Kassujja labels 2025 Dolphins Junior Championship best ever

Black Panthers Swim Club and Silverfin Academy won the 2025 Dolphins Juniors Championship.

Black Panthers topped the girls category while Silverfin Academy were victors in the boys category.

In the aftermath of the annual event held at Kampala Parents’ School in Naguru last weekend which attracted 23 clubs and 465 swimmers, coach Tonny Kassujja, in an interview, labelled the 2025 championship as the best ever organised by the club, but also in terms of competition.

On the championship in general…

Dolphins Junior Championship 2025 edition, in general, was outstanding, amazing. It was very competitive. It was nice. It was different. I think it was very colourful. We had different teams, and we had the composition of 23 teams, about 460 athletes, as anticipated. 

The number was quite higher than what we had previously. I think it was the largest number at this event and what was different also is that we had qualifying time. We had to qualify; before all the athletes used to just apply and come for it. 

The qualifying time brought up very good athletes, since everyone had to qualify, so it was very competitive. Large numbers. The performance was really high. And you’ll see from the videos and good enough your insight, you saw how it was. The technique was fantastic. Coaches have done a very good job since last year. 

We had 23 teams, and this competition was very inclusive. What was outstanding was that this time round, we had athletes from special of special needs. And it wasn’t one, but there were three athletes, and for me, that is our world standing, seeing children of special needs, seeing children with autism enjoying living with normal people. And they were very competitive, they didn’t have any fear. They enjoyed the space, and good enough is that the organising team recognised them and gave them a platform for me that was really outstanding. Also, the performances from different individuals. I was surprised by Nakato Jahan from Dolphins. She did 29. That is the first ever in Ugandan swimming, where a kid of 11 years, especially a girl, goes below 30 seconds.

On the general level of performance… 

I think this level of competition, I would say it is the best ever. We’ve not seen any. That has been different, especially at the junior level. This had the best performances and very many outstanding swimmers you couldn’t see. People could not sound the blocks and thought that there was, there’s someone you know that would win. Everyone was challenging and it brought up new amazing swimmers.

So, I think the next ones to come will be far better. So, if we continue like this, swimming will be at a different level. One of the objectives was to basically give a platform to these young swimmers to learn the rules, and I was amazed that these young swimmers, 5-year-olds, would remember all the rules of training and the rules of competition. It was very hard to see a young child doing the wrong thing, wrong turns. They’re following the rules, so few of them got disqualified and for me, that is amazing. I loved what I saw.

Like I said earlier, I was mesmerised by Jihan Nakato, a girl of 11 years going under 30 seconds, she produced a 29 that was really outstanding for me and I think she took over the platform.

The other was Aya from Aqua Akii. Aya had a very good performance, then Bwisho from Silverfin was very amazing; Ssali Malakai from Dolphins Fantastic in Butterfly, and I think he is a swimmer to look up to; in the near future, if he continues swimming, he will not be a surprise to me.

There are also other athletes who performed well in individual events. I think another was from Ozpreys Swim Club, the girl was really fantastic, and I was amazed. I was also amazed by Team Lyons. Lyons had very few swimmers, but one of their swimmers was really amazing, I think he is called Kalili. So, I hope all the swimmers keep swimming for the long haul because I can see a bright future for them and the sport of swimming and Aquatics in general.

Compared to the previous events, is this the best event Dolphins has hosted?

Comparing the championships, I think if I look at all the Dolphin Championships, this was amazing. It has been the best so far, and I think if you moved around and got testimonies from the people or the swimmers, from the spectators, they were all giving positives.

So, I think this is a good start to move to the next level. And my prayer is to see that this event can attract different athletes, it can also attract many athletes from different from East Africa and maybe outside East Africa; those young athletes to come and participate in this fantastic event, but also. I would love to see this event being taken over by the federation and probably dolphins can maintain the organization, but of course, it comes at a cost if the federation takes it over.

But I know for the good of the swimmers, it will be something that is very good. There is a collaboration between Dolphins and the USF or Uganda Aquatics now. It would be fantastic because this is, I think, the best ever junior championship. And I pray someone outside there looks up to it and they take it on. I think Uganda needs it as an event, especially since it’s now producing some of the best times that are not even seen at the national championships. That is the positive I see in this event and I hope it can be done.

What is next for Dolphins Swim Club?

First of all, we have another event which is going to bring up all the swimmers; that is the Dolphins Fast and Furious in the first weekend of September. But right now our major focus is on the nationals so that we can put up very good performances and produce swimmers to qualify for all the other international events. That is our driving factor because our vision is to see that all our swimmers can qualify and participate for our country.

Also, we now have the pressure to maintain our best performances because now we’re out to the world and everyone is able to track and see what Dolphins has to offer.

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