Daughter of Irish missionaries will become Uganda's first Olympic rower on Friday

A former World Championship swimmer, Kathleen Noble only took up rowing when she moved to study at Princeton University

Uganda's Kathleen Noble. Pic via Ireland in Uganda Twitter

One of Sanita Puspure's opponents in the Olympic Women's Single Sculls will be a history-maker born to Irish parents in Uganda.

Kathleen Noble will become her nation's first Olympic participant in a rowing event when the heats for the single sculls get under way on Friday.

Noble was born in 1994 to Irish couple Gerry and Moira Noble, a doctor and teacher living as missionaries in Uganda.

She grew up in Uganda and first represented the country in swimming, competing at the 2012 World Championships in Turkey, where she set national records in 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly.

But then a move to the USA in 2014 to study at Princeton University saw her switch to rowing, where raw talent meant she soon featured in successful varsity boats.

And then a chance visit to the university by a Ugandan rowing coach opened another door.

Kathleen Noble will make history this week as Uganda's first Olympic rower. Best of luck to Kathleen, born and raised in Uganda to Irish parents! 🇺🇬🇮🇪🚣‍♀️ #Tokyo2020 https://t.co/wVCI2gfhw6 pic.twitter.com/MTnzgeYfCu

— Ireland in Uganda (@IrlEmbUganda) July 21, 2021

“When I got to Princeton, I met a lady called Bertha Wang to whom I introduced myself as the Ugandan coach,” Rodrick Muhumuza told Daily Monitor.

“Her quick response was that there was a Ugandan rower in their lightweight university eight. I did not believe because I literally knew all Ugandan rowers at the time.

“But I could not go out to meet Noble because I had just a day to return to Uganda so I picked her contact from Bertha and got in touch to learn about her Ugandan roots.” 

The following year Noble left Princeton for a semester to train in Uganda for the 2016 Under-23 World Championships.

“It was very challenging in many ways,” Noble tells Princeton Alumni Weekly. “To go from the Princeton boathouse, which is one of the best facilities in the world, to our little container where we keep our boats and sometimes duct-tape our boats together — it was such a different experience, and very humbling and very inspiring.” 

Those championships were a bit of disaster, having to borrow a boat when none arrived from Uganda.

“It was such a mess,” Noble says. “But I was very happy to be there.” 

In the meantime, she has juggled work in cancer research and physical therapy while training with a Utah high school team, and qualified for the Games by winning the African Olympic qualifier in Tunis in October 2019.

“She has had good preparations in the US,” Muhumuza said.

“We feel she has had adequate preps and she will do her best in Tokyo. She had some tryouts at different regattas in the US that helped her gauge standards and steps for improvement and you can clearly see her spirit to get better.” 

She mightn't be challenging Puspure for the medal places, but participation will be a triumph in itself.

“It’s been cool to put a spotlight on rowing in Uganda, and it’s encouraged a lot of people to feel like it’s actually possible,” she says. “That’s been a cool part of it, to see how the rowing community in Uganda has been excited about me competing.”

“It will be an honour and a relief to kick off these long-awaited Games," she added.