Husnah Kukundakwe - from ‘starstruck’ selfies to swimming success
“I looked to my left and there was Adam Peaty and then to my right there was Kaylee McKeown and I was just starstruck 90% of the time,” recalls para swimmer Husnah Kukundakwe of her maiden Commonwealth Games experience.
The teenager has been mixing with the best para swimmers on the planet since her history-making Games debut at Tokyo 2020, where at the age of 15 she became the first athlete from her sport to represent Uganda at a Paralympic Games in over 20 years.
She followed that by achieving another landmark at Birmingham 2022, which saw her become the first para swimmer from her nation to compete at a Commonwealth Games.
It was the then 16-year-old’s first involvement in an integrated sport programme, where those from Olympic disciplines and Paralympic disciplines compete within the same heats and finals sessions each day. It was an experience she describes as “surreal.”
“There’s no other event where I’d have been able to see these people live and up close,” she says with a smile, before admitting the Covid-19 restrictions at the time only further whetted her appetite for Commonwealth competition come Glasgow 2026.
“It was quite hard to interact with people because they were still afraid of Covid (at Birmingham 2022), so we had masks on and conversations would be a maximum of 30 seconds, which was just about enough time to ask for a picture.
“This time around if I see people in the lunch room I’m going to go and speak with them.
“I’m going to ask Adam (Peaty), ‘how are you so amazing?’ and if I find Molly O’Callaghan (Australian Olympic 200m freestyle champion) I’ll be like; ‘how did you manage to break a world record with an injured knee?’ It’s just not possible!
“These guys are superstars, but I also learn from them as they are big role models.”
LIFE IN THE POOL AND AS A PEDIATRICIAN?
Kukundakwe is modest when asked how she feels about being a role model herself, but is acutely aware of the importance of representation and that her presence on the international circuit has an impact not only in her country, but across her continent.
“Honestly, it’s kind of a bit of pressure as I have to keep maintaining my swimming, but that has challenged me to be a better version of myself, to be an inspiration to other young children to reach for their dreams,” she states.
“The perception that Africans can’t do para swimming is very sad and bad and I think that stereotype should be fought against.”
Kukundakwe will continue her preparations for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games at the World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore, which run from 21 to 27 September.
The event is far from her only focus though, with her Year 12 A Level exam finals, in biology, chemistry and maths, following soon after she returns home.
“I’m a student, a swimmer and an athlete representative, so life is a little complex right now,” she says with a giggle, before adding; “so, am I busy? Yeah, you could say that!”
“The science subjects are tough and my training has been really intense as I’ve wanted to work on a few more things since Paris (2024 Paralympic Games), so balancing both is quite difficult, but I want to do it because I have so much passion for both.
“I love swimming, but I also need to study because one day I want to become a paediatrician.”
SWIMMING IN SINGAPORE TO GET SET FOR GLASGOW
Kukundakwe’s preferred SB8 100m breaststroke event was not part of the programme for Birmingham 2022, where she instead competed in the S9 100m freestyle.
It was challenging, given it required her to race against athletes with a lower level of impairment to her own, but she is delighted to have the opportunity to contest her favoured discipline at Glasgow 2026 and will test out new race skills for that in Singapore.
“This time around (at the World Championships in Singapore) I feel I have a bigger chance of making the final in all of my events, which is certainly my goal and of course personal best (times) always comes first,” says Kukundakwe.
“In preparation for the Commonwealth Games, there's the 100m SB8, so that’s my main focus and I’m very excited to compete in that, but if I can also qualify for the S9 100m freestyle again that would be lovely as it will give me two events for Glasgow.
The history-making African swimmer continues; “I think it’s really important for me to be out there representing my country and my continent on the biggest stage, like at the Commonwealths, because so often people are used to seeing a pool full of white guys.
“Then if there’s that one black person there who is feeling free with what they’re doing, others will feel the courage to join in and participate in something that they were perhaps too scared to before.”
By Nick Hope, Glasgow 2026 content creator
