The University of Michigan has paused voluntary summer workouts in field hockey, volleyball, swimming & diving, and ice hockey as a result of “COVID-19 test results and contact tracing protocols.”
Voluntary summer workouts for the field hockey, volleyball, and swimming & diving programs will resume on Monday, August 3, while ice hockey will resume this week.
There continues to be a shroud of mystery around the voluntary summer workouts for the Michigan swimming program. A few weeks ago, posts on the team’s official social media accounts showed that student-athletes had returned to training at the indoor Canham Natatorium on campus. That is in spite of the fact that the state of Michigan’s reopening plan does not yet allow for pools to reopen.
After public pushback, those social media posts were removed, and the school has steadfastly declined to address them. When asked this week if the August 3rd return to voluntary workouts for the swimming & diving program would include indoor training at the Canham Natatorium, a spokesperson for the athletics department said that “I have no information on specific facilities or future workout plans. I can say with certainty that we are in constant communication with local and state officials to ensure compliance in all areas.”
The NCAA allowed all Division I sports to resume voluntary physical activity on June 1. These workouts are supposed to be of a conditioning nature with no on-field skill instruction. There is a loophole allowing strength staff members and swim coaches to passively supervise their teams for safety purposes.
In swimming, the line between “conditioning workouts” and “skills training” is a blurred one, meaning that those programs that have returned to campus are generally just having normal workouts with no coach instruction. Other programs have swimmers training at off-campus sites under the umbrella of a USA Swimming club team, where they are allowed to receive direct coaching.
Michigan is one of a handful of schools that have had to pause their swimming & diving workouts because of positive tests for the novel coronavirus. Texas A&M and Louisville have also suspended training at times this summer as part of their safety protocols.
They are training at meadowbrook country club haha they ain’t stop
Hmm no fine or punishment from our governor? All the other swimmers in our state can’t step foot in an indoor pool and have to fight for limited pool time. Guess U of M is the most special. Good luck with that protocol thing.
I feel interruptions will happen throughout the year.
I think at some point they will need to take top ranked swimmers (not sure who or how many) and just lock them down in Colorado Springs until trials (and hope for the best there..)No contact with anyone outside (or minimum outside people coming in) and probabaly have coaches and trainers living there too. The NBA bubble will be a good test case if this would work.
As for NCAA – just know you did everything in your control to prep for the duel meets, and conference and do it with pride.
This is the conversation my child’s college coach had last nufht with his team.
Other then some power 5 schools I don’t think red shirting/suspending the season will be a thing at most schools.
If you’re on a team where there aren’t many full scholarships (or in the case of men’s teams no scholarships) and you’re paying a large portion of tuition why would you purposely plan to pay for a 5th year?
Unless someone is behind academically it won’t make sense.
If you have 4 meets that year make it a fast 4 meets. Heck if the schedule is that short and they think conference might be cancelled may as well do some drop tapers suit up and shave down for some or all (pros do it so why not?).
I’m sure HISWIMCOACH will have a calm and nuanced opinion about this news
While I’ve disagreed with some of his takes, I don’t think he’s been any less calm than anybody else during these sorts of conversations.
he may have been calm but inflicted the opposite in me by spreading “covid is like the flu but less dangerous and 0.0000 under 30 died” type of stuff
“Once an opinion is adopted, human understanding seeks everything around it to agree with and support it. Even if there is more evidence to the contrary, it neglects or despises it, or in some way rejects or fails to side“, Sir Francis Bacon.
Last year we had 440 flu deaths by this time ( it’s Flu season here ) . This year it is 38. Covid deaths are 130 . So far we are ahead.
U Of M can and will do as they please. Almost all decisions going forward will be made based on the basis of liability in this situation. My best hopes for these swimmers to continue their passion as soon as the situation allows it.
Never presume to know somebody based on a 1-dimensional view on the internet.
Go Buckeyes!
O-H
After holding illegal indoor swim practices and tweeting about it 🤦♂️
I don’t think they will be starting back up on August 3rd. Word is that they are all quarantined for 2 weeks.
if you don’t know what you’re talking about then don’t say anything
That defeats the whole purpose of comment sections 🙂
@theroadlesstraveled not true.