Aquatics chief Owiti hails growth of swimming in Kenya

Kenya Aquatics President Maureen Owiti has hailed the growing popularity of swimming in the country, noting that the record turnout at the 2026 Aquatics Long Course Swimming Championships is a strong indicator of the sport’s progress.

Nearly 700 swimmers and more than 3,000 race entries were recorded during the three-day competition held at Kasarani, making it the largest national championship in Kenya’s history. The event also attracted participants from Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia.

“For this particular championship, we had three days of competition. We’re very excited; this is the biggest number we’ve had. We had almost 700 athletes competing in total—278 girls and 372 male athletes. With a total of 3,000 entries, that’s the largest number of entries we’ve had since we came into office,” she said.

According to Dr. Owiti, the federation’s consistency in organizing competitions has played a key role in attracting more swimmers and clubs. The championship brought together athletes from more than 80 clubs across East and Southern Africa, creating a highly competitive environment that exposed local swimmers to stronger regional opposition.

The growth of the sport is also evident at the grassroots level, where more clubs and county-level competitions are emerging. Recent local championships have recorded increased participation and improved performances, signalling growing interest in competitive swimming among young athletes.

However, despite the encouraging progress, swimmers say inadequate facilities remain a major challenge. National swimmer Steven Ndegwa believes Kenya still has work to do if it hopes to compete consistently with leading African nations.

“We lack better facilities. For example, swimming in this pool is really cold, but we just have to deal with what we have. So I’d say for us to progress, we really need proper facilities. Once we get that, we’ll be able to do what big countries like South Africa are doing.”

His concerns echo those raised earlier this year by Kenya Aquatics officials, who warned that poor maintenance of key facilities such as the Kasarani Aquatic Complex could slow the sport’s development. The complex remains one of the region’s most important Olympic-size swimming venues and hosts athletes from several neighbouring countries.

Even with these challenges, stakeholders remain optimistic. Ndegwa noted that swimming is becoming more accessible across the country as more teams and facilities emerge.

“There are a bunch of teams I never knew existed that are here today, and they’re all new. You can see so much passion from the swimmers and coaches towards this sport. I am looking forward to the upcoming generation in swimming,” he said.