Liinah's at home in the water

SWIMMING: Ugandan swimmer Liinah Bukenya learned the basics of her sport less than a year ago. She started swimming, like most of us did, by splashing about uncertainly in armbands.

Eleven months later she had improved enough to compete in two aquatic events in this year's Special Olympics World Games.

It was impossible to know we were watching a beginner as the 12-year-old warmed up in the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin yesterday, her beaded braids tucked out of the way under a blue cap as she glided through the water.

And you couldn't tell that a year ago she would have struggled to complete a length of the pool, from the confident start she made in the finals of the 50m backstroke. Leading all the way, she looked far more comfortable than a novice could ever hope for. To her delight she completed the race ahead of her competitors in one minute and three seconds.

Outside, the sun-drenched medal presentation was a moving spectacle in a week full of emotional highs. Her Royal Highness Queen Sylvia Nagginda of Uganda, where the swimmer is from, presented the gold medal to Liinah (pronounced Leenah) with a hug. Ms Nagginda, a patron of the games, knows just how much courage it took for the swimmer, one of the youngest athletes competing in the games, to get to Dublin.

Two months ago Liinah lost her father when he died suddenly due to high blood pressure. She was told the news at her boarding school in the suburbs of Uganda's capital Kampala and not surprisingly, the tragedy threw her training into turmoil in the weeks leading up to the games.

"It was a difficult time," said her coach Mr Roger Mukasa. "The incredible thing about Liinah is that she is so competitive, she came back and she kept up her training. In everything she does, running, singing, dancing or swimming she wants to win but even so this win is a big surprise".

The Irish Times tracked her down yesterday because she was helped by this newspaper through the Support an Athlete programme. Liinah has no family with her at the games due to visa problems. But two Irish people who met her while working in Uganda came to Dublin so they could watch her perform.

Mr Eoin Wrenn from Co Limerick and Ms Michelle Foudy from Co Clare, both met Liinah in the Kampala region when they worked there with orphans. The charity workers said they thought she was "amazing" as Liinah grinned back at them, explaining in a soft voice how she viewed her chances before the race began.

"I thought maybe I might get a silver but this morning I said to myself that even if I didn't get anything I would be brave," she said, sitting on the steps surrounded by well-wishers and showing off her gold medal to excited Ugandan delegates.

Assistant head of the Ugandan delegation, Mr Edward Babumba, described her as a girl who is "very cheerful all of the time". In Roscommon last week she delighted residents of the Ugandan host town by serenading a crowd with an impromptu rendition of a Special Olympics song.

"At school she loves singing and sport and can read English better than she can her mother tongue," said Mr Babumba. "I think she was expecting at least a medal but a gold medal was not expected. It's like a miracle when you think of what she has gone through. She is very strong in the heart".

Now her coach is hoping Liinah will repeat this gold medal-winning performance tomorrow when she competes in the 50m freestyle race. "She is even better at freestyle than she is at backstroke," said Mr Mukasa.

But yesterday the laughing girl was thinking only about the celebrations planned in Wesley College in Dundrum where she is staying during the games.

"I am going to sing and dance and eat," she said, still stroking the glittering prize around her neck. "I am very, very happy."