The Salem High swim team is scheduled to open tonight with a meet at the Salem YMCA. The Spartans will take on Bassett, North Cross and Patrick Henry with warmups at 7 pm and the first official splash at 7:30 pm.

The Spartans have a new head coach in Marianne Fleenor. While she’s the new head coach, she’s not new to the program. And, she also got to know many of the swimmers as they came through the ranks in the Roanoke Valley Aquatic Association.

“This is my first year as head coach, but my fourth with the team,” said Fleenor. “In my time here this is the largest team representing Salem swimming.”

The Spartans have a roster of 41 swimmers, with 23 girls and 18 boys. After tonight’s meet at the “Y” the team will participate in a big meet at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center Saturday, the Southwest Invitational.

“I expect that we will be strong competition in our regular season meets and we will be taking more swimmers to the State Championships this year,” said Fleenor.

Meanwhile, Glenvar is yet to name a coach. Keith Gaines is no longer with the team due to health reasons and a new coach has yet to be approved by the Roanoke County School System as of press time. The Highlanders are scheduled to open this week with a meet at the Gator Center.