By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

MEMBERS of the Saipan Swim Club will spend a lot of time in the water this weekend as SSC holds the 28th Annual Saipan Ocean Swim and an international swim meet.
The SSC International Swim Meet will be held this Friday and Saturday at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool in Marpi with teams from Guam and Japan joining the two-day event.
Friday’s swim will start at 3:30 p.m., while on Saturday, the tournament will begin at 8 a.m. One-hundred-fifty-five events are set for this weekend.
Ribbons will be awarded to first through eighth placers, while trophies will be given to the top three individual point scorers in six age groups.
There will also be competitions in the Masters divisions from the 20 to 69 age groups.
SSC coach Stewart said that they are hoping to have one team each from Japan and Guam.
“But it will be a virtual meet like that we did in last month’s heptathlon meet,” he said.
In last year’s meet, SSC competed against Guam’s Tarakito Swim Club and the Typhoons, Palau and St. Mary’s International School in Tokyo, Japan.
The TKO swimmers topped the meet dominating the different age groups.
Tarakito earned 1,046 points after two days of competition to claim the overall championship.
SSC collected 849.50 points to notch the second place trophy, followed by St. Mary’s International School (735.50 points) Guam Typhoons (478 pts.), Palau Swim Team (107), Swimkids Buccaneers (101), Tap Swim School (84), Saipan Masters Nadadores (67) and Team Central Sports (27).
Local swimmers are expected to put on a good show this weekend, as they will be gunning for slots on the SSC team that will be joining two tournaments in Japan in June.
So far, 11 swimmers have made it to the SSC squad, whose final lineup will be announced at the end of March, according to Stewart.
On Sunday, SSC will be hosting the 29th edition of the Saipan Ocean Swim.
Registration is set for 7 a.m. at World Resort, while the races will begin at 8 a.m.
The annual even will have competitions in eight age groups.
The 8-and-under will cover a distance of 600m, 1000m for 9 to 10 age group, 1300m for 11 to 12 and 2500m for 13 to 14 and 15 to 19 age groups.
Participants in the 20 to 29, 30 to 39, 40 to 49, 50 to 59 and 60-and-over age groups can join either the 1300m race or the 2500m.
For more information, contact Stewart at 322-9474 or via email at swimsaipan@hotmail.com.