SINGAPORE — Singapore Swimming Club’s (SSC) flagship inter-club competition, the Open Invitational Midget Meet (OIMM), will return for the 23rd time this weekend (Sept 9-10).

The OIMM is the only swim competition in Singapore that is organised exclusively for kids aged nine and below. Some 303 swimmers from Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei will compete this year across 52 age-group events.

The youngest participants this year are five-year-olds who will be competing in the six-year-old and under category. Among the participating local clubs are last year’s first and second runners-up, ACE Swim Club and Chinese Swimming Club. SSC is the defending champion.

Many of Singapore’s young swim stars have participated in the OIMM in the past, including 2017 SEA Games women’s 10km open-water swimming bronze medallist Chantal Liew, 2015 SEA Games 200m breaststroke bronze medallist Christopher Cheong, and national swimmer Faith Khoo.

All OIMM races will be held over the short course distance of 25m. SSC says the aim of the meet is to expose young swimmers to the rigours of training and competing, and to help them make the transition to bigger meets in the future.