During the 2019-2020 season, Nautilus Swimming Club hosted a 3-leg swim cup, sponsored by TMK GIPI, in the amazing facilities of Al Batinah International School in Suhar. Each leg counted over 700 entries.
Events in each one included 50, 100, 200m races all strokes, 200 and 400 IM, 400 freestyle. This was the first time in Oman’s swimming history that such an event consisting of several stages was hosted. The way this Swim Cup worked was that each swimmer had to gather up points in each leg of the event.
Swimmers were separated into their according genders plus age groups and competed in many events throughout the cup.
Age groups: 9 and under, 10- 11, 12-13, 14-15, 16 and over in both boys and girls categories. Initially it was supposed to be a 4-leg swim cup with the victory ceremony where TMK GIPI and Al Batinah International School management can present the prizes and cups to the winners, but the pandemic forced organisers to make amendments into the programme. However, the intrigue remained till the last moment since the swimmers’ age was taken as per each leg date and they kept moving from one age group into another during the cup season. The teams that competed in this cup were the AGS Dragons, BSM Marlins, Excellence Sports Academy, Flying Mantas, Majan Sports Club, and of course both of Nautilus Swimming Club’s squads from Muscat and Suhar.
The event was run by Colorado Time Systems and followed Fina rules. In total, there were 10 winners of which every winner received a cash prize and a cup from TMK GIPI. The winners were announced based on the scored collected during the three legs: among the boys were Arjun Jeevagan, Jahangir Marvarov, Hussain Taha, Tariq al Balushi and Mirjavohir Marvarov. While among the girls, the winners were Avigna Chowdary, Chrisann Lewis, Aditi Boopalakrishnan, Eva Bonde and Annelies Fien.
The event was a success and Nautilus received great feedback from the participating teams. Moreover, the teams proposed to make this event an annual tradition. Being the only swim school in Oman with the Olympic coaching team on board, Nautilus works on highlighting the importance of swimming and creating the opportunity for swimmers to achieve international standards.
Head coach of Nautilus, Ivan Proskura, who had coached Olympic and Paralympic swimmers, believes the competitions are the key part of the training process.
“The more the swimmers race, the higher are their chances to improve by making required corrections in the training process. Thus Nautilus Cup, consisting of several legs, is a great opportunity for both swimmers and coaches to sum up an athlete’s daily, weekly monthly and seasons training process,” he said.
“The swimmers have a great chance to learn how to manage their emotions and get ready for the bigger events of their sports life. It was great to have a great support of the parents willing to drive all the way to Suhar and to volunteer ensuring the smooth run of all the stages,” Proskura added.
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