On a bright shoreline in Barbados, where waves crashed hard and nerves ran high, 16 year old Marcel Otim wrote a new chapter in Ugandan sport.
With composure beyond his years, Otim powered through the surf to win bronze in the Junior Men’s Solo at the Commonwealth Rowing Beach Sprints, Uganda’s first ever international rowing medal.
For a teenager on debut, the task was huge. The field was full of experienced young rowers from across the Commonwealth, the conditions were demanding, and every sprint required perfect timing.
His breakthrough came at the 2025 World Rowing U19 Championships in Trakai, Lithuania. The Commonwealth event is running from November 21 to 23, which has drawn some of the best beach sprint specialists in the world.
Otim’s success sets the tone for Uganda’s three-person team, led by Olympian Kathleen Noble, one of the pioneers of the sport in the country.
She is racing in the Women’s Solo before joining 23 year old Elijah Namunyu in the Mixed Double. Namunyu, a fast-rising talent, is also competing in the Men’s Solo as he hunts his own breakthrough.
