OCCC Aquatic Center will once again play host to Chesapeake Swim Club’s Halloween Invitational Swim Meet taking place Oct. 28, 29 and 30.

Entering its 15th year at OCCC, the event is a USA Swimming sanctioned meet and will have a multitude of events ranging from relays to freestyle heats and will consist of team, as well as individual events said Chesapeake Swim Club Head Age Group Coach Kathy Mendez.

All swimmers taking part must qualify for the event by meeting USA Swimming’s specified time trials. The entry deadline is Oct. 19.

A transition to online registration may be the cause for a decrease in team enrollment for OCCC’s intramural flag football league.

A consistent and popular fixture for OCCC’s Intramural sports program, Flag Football registration for the fall season has fallen short of what was expected for the semester with only four teams being formed.

Wellness Center attendant Alex Savage said he believes that one of the reasons lies in the change to a predominantly online registration process that only a few students seem to be aware of.

“We use to have a sign-up sheet at the Wellness Center desk where students could just sign their names,” Savage said.

“Now they have to go to an intramural league website and register a profile to form a team.”

The hungry and studious students of OCCC were treated to an energetic display of the Latin-based dance craze Zumba in the College Union on September 8.

Zumba instructor Sandi Price said OCCC students and staff wanted to show off their moves to raise fitness awareness as well as demonstrate the fun students can have while blowing off some steam.

“The whole point of Zumba is to feel the music,” Price said.

“No two instructors are ever going to be the same. If you go out to a club no two people are going to be dancing the same, so every experience is unique and that is what makes [Zumba] fun.”

The holidays are just a few months away and that usually means good home-cooked meals with the family. And with that comes the difficulty of staying in shape.

Good thing OCCC’s Wellness Center is around to help.

For a nominal fee, there are many different types of fitness classes offered in a range of time slots designed to work with student schedules.

The OCCC Nursing Student Association and Student Physical Therapist Assistant Organization will sponsor the 3rd Annual Life Saver 5K and 1 mile Fun Run Sept. 17.

With its number of participants growing each year, OCCC Nursing Student Association President Jennifer Hader is keen to keep that trend going.

“I would very much like to encourage all current and previous nursing students to participate in the 5K, either by running or volunteering their time to help us make this event even more awesome than the last two.” Hader said.

Race Director and Associate Nursing Program Director Deborah Myers also is optimistic that the number of participants will grow with the upcoming fun run.

“We’d like to have 500 participants and we’re hopeful that we’ll reach that number for this year’s run.” Myers said.

OCCC is joining in the fight against Alzheimer’s by taking part in the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s charity event.

OCCC is forming a team of staff and students.

Team members will pledge donations and participate in the charity walk aimed at raising additional funds and awareness for the sixth highest cause of death in the U.S according to The Alzheimer’s Association.

Alzheimer’s Association OKC Walk Coordinator Sara Jones said the walk, to be held Saturday, Sept. 17, at Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Ballpark, is entering its 12th year.

Jones said she is excited to see continuing growth and involvement in the event.

The Rose State swim team came out on top with the most first-place finishes at the first annual Junior Lifeguard Competition that took place July 15 at the OCCC Aquatic Center.

Six teams from area pools participated in this year’s event.

“The Junior Guard Teams went head to head in an iron guard relay race, a rescue race, deep water tug-of-war and a simulation event,” said Roxanna Butler, recreation and fitness specialist at OCCC.

For the summer months, aquatic sports and other water-based activities can often be the optimum means of gaining relief from the consistently intense Oklahoma heat.

So when visitors and students of OCCC use the Aquatic Center to cool off, the college’s lifeguards are always on hand to use their training to ensure safety in, as well as out of, the pool.

Lifeguard Ryan Domstead said the steps to becoming a lifeguard for OCCC require an individual develop an important collection of skills that are built to ensure not just a swimmer’s safety but that of the lifeguard’s as well.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially selected OCCC’s Aquatic Center as the venue to host their 2012 and 2013 Swimming and Diving National Championships.

Holly Shelton, manager of Sports Business Development for the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the NAIA chose OCCC over two other potential schools that were in the running to host the events; a process, she points out, that required a great deal of cooperation.

“It was a collaborative effort of the Convention and Visitors Bureau and OCCC,” she said.

OCCC’s Recreation and Fitness Center is offering students and community members an affordable way to keep in shape this summer.

Students who present a valid student ID or individuals who present a valid membership may purchase Group Fitness Passes that will allow them to participate in all group fitness classes over the entire summer semester for $35.

OCCC Wellness Attendants Jessica Hughes and Alex Savage said the passes present an opportunity for everyone to sample various classes and see what may work for them.