A week in the life of Ugandan Paralympian Husnah Kukundakwe — Assembly

The 14-year-old writes about balancing schoolwork with swimming as she trains for the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Monday, 31 May 2021

I woke up at 4 a.m. and prepared for swimming and school. I got my uniforms and school books ready and then left home. In the car, I take a cup of porridge to get the morning energy.

I’m busy in training mode for the Tokyo Paralympic Games. I qualified to compete in this year’s Paralympics after a race in Sheffield, England in April 2021. It is the biggest highlight of my life and I’ve looked forward to participating in the Games ever since the day I got my classification (which is the system for grouping athletes with disabilities together for para-sport competitions).

I arrive at the pool at 5:15 a.m. and begin with a pool deck warmup before I start training at 5:40 a.m. On most Mondays, the training focuses on strength and power so that's what we did today. The training was two hours long and then I left for school.

My lessons begin at 8 a.m. and I reach them a little late. But I am only five to 10 minutes late so I do not really miss much. I went through the school day really smoothly. Lessons end at 4 p.m. and then my mum picks me up from school. I arrive back at home, take a shower, eat supper and go to sleep at 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, 1 June 2021

I woke up at 4 a.m., did the usual preparation for training and school but I also had to prepare for training in the evening. In the car, I took a cup of porridge. When I got to the pool, I warmed up with a medicine ball and began training at 5:40 a.m. Today's morning training was speed training so it was kind of short; it was one and a half hours. I got to school just on time.

(Courtesy of Kawaii Patrick Wabwire Jr.)

It was another smooth school day, we even did some practicals in physics. I left school at 4:10 p.m. and arrived at the pool. I did another medicine ball warmup and began swimming at 4:30 p.m. The evening training session was about endurance so we did a lot of laps but swam holding a specific time. The training took two hours. We left the pool after I showered and I arrived at home at 7:10 p.m. All I had time to do was eat and sleep.

At the end of days like this, I feel really exhausted and sometimes I even forget to eat supper. But I am happy with the way my training is going because I know that it is what is best for me to achieve my dream of representing Uganda at the Paralympic Games.

Wednesday, 2 June 2021

I woke up at the usual time and did my usual stuff and prepared for the gym in the evening. Like always, I had a cup of porridge in the car. Then I got to the pool, did a pool deck warmup and began training at the usual time. It was race pace training today so the session was short.

I got to school a little early and went through the school day smoothly. I even did a cool practical chemistry class about separation of mixtures. Balancing training with school is difficult but I am managing since I had a much more difficult time in 2019. Back then I was training for the para-swimming championships while also studying for a final exam that I needed to pass to graduate to high school. School is really important to me because I want to achieve my dream of becoming a pediatrician. As much as I would love to swim for the rest of my life, I also want to achieve this other dream that I have had since I was a kid.

“School is really important to me because I want to achieve my dream of becoming a pediatrician. As much as I would love to swim for the rest of my life, I also want to achieve this other dream that I have had since I was a kid.”

— Husnah Kukundakwe

We ended classes early and my mum picked me up at 3:50 p.m. We went to the gym and we began at 4:30 p.m. I warmed up and worked on my strength, lifting weights and doing squats with a bar. I cooled down and then finished with stretching. The workout was one and a half hours. I left for home and took a shower. Immediately I arrived, ate supper and went directly to sleep.

Thursday, 3 June 2021

Today was a public holiday in Uganda called Uganda Martyr’s Day, which honors Christian martyrs. I woke up at 5 a.m., which was awesome since I got an extra hour of sleep. I prepared only for swimming practice and took my daily porridge in the car. I arrived at the pool, did a medicine ball warmup and began training at 6:30 a.m. Today was a recovery but also an endurance day since we had gym the previous day. It was still two hours though. After training I went home and took a long nap. When I woke up, I did a couple of school assignments and played with my brothers. I had supper and went to sleep at 8:30 p.m.

Friday, 4 June 2021

I woke up at 4 a.m. and prepared for swimming and school. I began training at 5:40 a.m. Our focus today was all about strength and power. For now, I am focusing on improving my strength and speed in freestyle and breaststroke since I will compete at the Tokyo Paralympics in the 100 meter breaststroke and 100 meter freestyle. Training was two hours and then I left for school.

I arrived a little late but I caught up with the very little that I missed. It was the same old normal school day. Then it was my dad who picked me up from school. After he picked me up, we also picked up my little brothers. We arrived at home, I took a shower, hung around, had supper and went to sleep at 8 p.m.

Saturday, 5 June 2021

I woke up at 4:15 a.m. My mum usually lets me get an extra 15 minutes of sleep. I prepared for swimming and then left for swimming. Today we did a group warmup but maintained social distance. We began training at 6:15 a.m. and we had race pace training but it was different from Wednesday. After the warmup we changed into our racing suits. It was fun and I also got to try on a new racer that was sent to me by TYR. I love racing suits but I don’t train in them often. I only train in them when we are simulating races and reviewing times.

After training we hung around the pool and I met a disabled boy who wanted to start swimming and I just gave him some advice. I told him that no matter how old he is he can still learn how to swim and even compete in it as long as he puts his mind to it and focuses on his dream. I later left for the gym. We began at 11 a.m. and we were done by 12:30 p.m. We hung around the gym and then left for lunch. On Saturdays I usually have shawarma for lunch with my mum and coach. Then I had an amazing and relaxing massage for the first time. I was sore from all my workouts. When we got home later, I just went to sleep.

Sunday, 6 June 2021

Today is my rest day so I use it to complete all my school assignments and watch some movies and TV series. Basically I use Sundays to take naps and hang around at home. My favorite things to watch are “Supergirl” and “Riverdale” at the moment.

It’s a lot of work training for the Paralympics but I can’t wait to represent my country of Uganda. I am extremely excited to meet other athletes from around the world. I’m determined to make the most of my first-ever Paralympics and leave with amazing memories.

That is how my week went. Hope you enjoyed reading about it!