Members of the national swimming team on Monday, November 15, left for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, ahead of the forthcoming CANA Zone 3 East African Swimming Championship slated for November 17-20.

Rwanda is one of the six countries taking part in the regional championship alongside Uganda, Burundi, Sudan, Eritrea and Tanzania.

Head coach Jackson Niyomugabo travelled with five swimmers for the tournament. They include two female swimmers, Claudette Ishimwe and Clementine Neema, who play for Cercle Sportif de Karongi and three males: Eloi Maniraguha of Mako Sharks Swimming Club as well as Cercle Sportif de Krongi duo Claude Dusabe and Eric Iradukunda.

They will compete in the 800m pool race that will take place at Gymkhana Club in Dar es Salaam and the 5,000m race in a lake which is yet to be communicated.

Claude Dusabe will compete in long-distance swimming race (5,000m).

"It is a good idea that the federation has started to produce swimmers who can compete in long-distance swimming and, with the training that we have, we hope to go up against Africa’s best and bring medals,” Dusabe said.

Rwanda is participating for the fifth time in the CANA Zone 3 East African swimming championships happening for the seventh time.

The country’s last participation in the same competition was in 2019 in Kenya.

Rwandan swimmers missed out on the 2020 edition in Tanzania and 2021 in Uganda due to the Covid-19 pandemic.