This week, the Seleneca High School Swim Team is in the final days of preparations for the Lunar Intramural Swimming Competition, to be held here in Seleneca the week of December 7th. This will be the second year in a row that the even took place here. The organizer, the Lunar Intermural and Recreational Sports Association (LIRSA), likes to hold it at our municipal pool since it is the widest Olympic sized facility (with its 10 lanes) on the near side of the moon. Our high school team will be competing against other high schools as well as members of several research centers. There are no age restrictions for the competitors. We have fewer high schools on the Moon than they have in other states or countries on Earth.
Events will include the usual events:
- the 200-meter Medley Race,
• 200-meter freestyle
• 100-meter backstroke
• 100-meter breaststroke
• 100-meter fly
• 100-meter freestyle
Also, there will be two lunar exclusive events. One is called the Ejecta, which is a contest to see who can jump out of the pool the farthest with their own strength from a starting point at 3 feet of water depth. The second is the Very High Dive, which is from a platform 42 meters high (138ft). Our slow/low gravity and the longer distance down to the pool provides the diver more time to deliver quite an amazing performance before slicing into the water.
Swimming is a popular activity here in Seleneca. It is probably the only type of physical recreation and sport that is like on Earth. That is because the buoyancy of our bodies in the water is determined by the mass of our bodies, and not gravity. Plus, the resistance of the water is also not influenced by gravity. The only difference is that the wave heights at the surface of the water is greater, and our swimmers must learn to be more careful when taking breaths while swimming. Swimming is also used to train people how to hold their breaths for longer than normal times. Our brains get conditioned to get by with less oxygen. This comes in handy in the case of an emergency out of the water should oxygen levels should suddenly decrease around us.
“Our high school team looks quite ready,” says Monty Kerl, the parent of one of the student competitors. “Me and many of the other parents have been thrilled to see how well Assistant Coach [Sam] Suliman works with the children. And he volunteers for the job, as he has two sons attending the school, one of whom is swimming this year. He has an amazing ability to talk with the team members and get them to see how he or she can build upon their strengths to overcome weaknesses.”
Mr. Hava Akimi, director of Seleneca’s Office of Atmosphere, assures us that they have everything ready to maintain oxygen levels to accommodate the influx of visitors and can process the increase in CO2 that accompanies events such as this. Boden Bauer, of the Bauer’s Family Farm says, “we have noticed an increase in plant growth after large civic events due to the Office of Atmosphere releasing some of the collected CO2 into the farms.” Mr. Akimi says that most of the CO2 that is collected is stored in containers and sold to outside buyers.
On behalf of myself and the whole team here at the Selenic Times, I wish our high school students: Good Luck!
