(Press Release) — Starting June 1, 500 Sails and Dolphin Club Saipan will be offering weekly swim lessons every Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. at the Guma Sakman in Susupe — on the beach across from Marianas High School.
Taught by 500 Sails co-founders Emma and Peter Perez, adults and teenagers of all levels of swim ability are welcome to join the lessons, which are absolutely free and open to the public, with no reservations necessary.
Both Pete and Emma are avid swimmers and open-water swim coaches.
In 2007, Pete and Emma were part of the “Chamorro Flying Proa Relay Team,” the first all-Chamorro, all-family relay team to cross the English Channel, an open water swim that is to open water swimmers what climbing Mt. Everest is to climbers.
The swim measures about 21 miles in distance and averages 9 to 15 hours to complete (the team did it in 13).
Their exceptional swimming skills are reminiscent of first-hand accounts from explorers that observed the people of the Marianas in the 16th and 17th centuries.
In 1616, Charles de Brosses, a French writer and explorer in the Pacific, remarked that “these islanders have no equals in the world in the art of swimming.”
The Dolphin Club Saipan is a swim program of 500 Sails that encourages people to get their bodies moving in the water by hosting and organizing open swim lessons, participating in swim meets, and other swim-related events. These activities help people to develop healthy physical habits while enjoying and deepening their relationship with the ocean. As Pacific Island people, the ocean is an integral part of our daily lives, not only as a source of our food and sustenance, but also as a source of our mental and physical well-being.
About 500 Sails
500 Sails is a 501(c)(3) and CNMI tax-exempt nonprofit organization dedicated to reviving, promoting, and preserving the maritime cultural traditions of the Mariana Islands through community engagement in canoe cultural values and activities. 500 Sails envisions a healthy thriving native community that has successfully integrated traditional cultural values into modern life. Major supporting partners include the CNMI Office of Indigenous Affairs, IT&E, and Chamolinian Cultural Village Inc – Canoe Federation.
For more information on programs, call (670) 323-7245 (SAIL), email info@500sails.org, or follow 500 Sails on Facebook and Instagram.
Dolphin Club Saipan swim participants gather for Pete and Emma’s swimming lessons.
