Major Swim Meet to be held on November 1

Muscat: Close to 450 young swimmers from across Oman, as well as Bahrain and the UAE, will take part in a swimming tournament being organised by the Nautilus Swim Club in Muscat.

The 3rd Annual Nautilus Swim Meet takes place on 1 and 2 November, 2019 at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, from 8.30 am onwards. More than 20 swim clubs will compete at this event, and while Nautilus themselves will field a team at the event, others will also be present.

A team representing the Oman Swimming Association will be taking part, as will the British School Muscat’s Marlins swim team, and the Vipers of the American British Academy, with the two schools and Nautilus themselves fielding the largest groups at the meet. The hosts will have 120 swimmers competing, while BSM will send a further 93, and ABA will be represented by 43 swimmers.

The objective of this meet is to test the skills of the young swimmers in a competitive environment, while replicating Olympic-style conditions to see how they perform. There are five separate age groups for girls and boys who swim professionally: those aged nine and 10-years-old will form the youngest age group, followed by those between the ages of 11 and 12, 13 and 14, 15 and 16, and 17 and above.

Amateur classes will see male and female swimmers split into age groups of 11 to 13, 14 to 16, 17 to 30 and finally, 31 and over. For competitors to register in a particular age group, they must be of the required age as of 1 November. Medals will be awarded for those who finish in first, second and third place.

A number of competitions including 50, 100 and 200 metre races, have been organised for different kinds of swim strokes including 200 and 400 metre individual medleys, and a 400 metre freestyle dash.

Commenting on the event and the manner in which it would help young swimmers, Nautilus' head coach Ivan Proskura said, “Being one of the only swimming clubs with an Olympic coaching team on board, Nautilus organised this meet to highlight the importance of swimming and creating an opportunity for young swimmers to achieve international standards"

All events at the tournament will be monitored by referees from the Oman Swim Association, using the Omega timing system. Over the course of the two days, over 38 events across the various aforementioned categories will be organised, that have been split into morning and afternoon sessions.