Kathleen Noble, the daughter of Irish missionaries, will make history on Friday as she competes for Uganda in the same Women's Single Sculls heat as Sanita Puspure at the Tokyo Games.
Noble grew up in Uganda after her parents Gerry and Moira, a doctor and a teacher respectively, left Ireland to move to the African country.
The 26-year-old is an accomplished swimmer, setting a new Ugandan 50m butterfly record of 30.80 seconds back in 2012.
She moved to Princeton University in 2014 where she discovered rowing, displaying a natural ability for the sport that led to her competing at the 2016 Under-23 World Championships.
Noble later moved to the University of Utah where she has been preparing for the Games since sealing qualification back in 2019.
"It will be an honour and a relief to kick off these long awaited Games," she told Uganda publication The Daily Monitor.
Noble and Puspure's heat goes off at 1.40am Irish time.
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