MAKING WAVES

BORN AND RAISED IN UGANDA, SOFTWARE ENGINEER AND ROWER KATHLEEN NOBLE HAS REPRESENTED THE EAST AFRICAN COUNTRY IN THE NICHE SPORT AT TWO OLYMPIC GAMES.

- Mark Gleeson

Those who did not know probably did a double take at the blonde-haired woman in Ugandan colors in her rowing boat at the Paris Olympics.

But although she is of Irish ancestry, Kathleen Noble is every bit Ugandan as any other who has represented the 'Pearl of Africa' at the Olympic Games.

Noble was born in Kampala to Irish missionaries, her father, a doctor, and mother, a teacher, who have lived in Uganda for the past 31 years. "When we grew up in Uganda, people asked where I was from and I'd say 'Ireland'. But then when I was on holiday in Ireland, people asked me where I was from, and I'd say 'Uganda"." She swam for Uganda while still a schoolgirl and almost by accident now finds herself a double Olympian in the single-scull rowing competition.

"When I finished high school, I was kind of done with swimming and wasn't really thinking of continuing. I kind of felt like going to the World Championships was a capstone to that career and something I was very happy with," she tells FORBES AFRICA.