Speedo Senior Sectionals at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center been canceled by the facility, Pacific Northwest Swimming announced Tuesday. King County is the owner and operator of the pool Federal Way, WA, as well as the local health authority.
“Meet Director will send more information later, but knew some were getting on a flight this afternoon,” the LSC posted on its website.
On Sunday, meet director Suzanne Rychlik and referee Michael Davis released an “update” saying that no decision had been made, but that postponement would not be possible – only cancelation.
That update included the following:
- The Reality: While the King County Aquatic Center remains open and there are no required event cancelations, the reality is that it could happen at any time between now and the end of the event. There will be no refunds for travel or meet related expenses. The situation is very fluid, and it could change instantly. We want you to be aware that this is a possibility.
- Why haven’t you rescheduled or canceled? We have received a small number of emails from families asking why we have we not canceled/postponed the meet. The reality is that there is no way to postpone the meet so cancelation would be the only option.
King County has seen the most confirmed COVID-19 cases of anywhere in the country at 116 (there have been 22 deaths as of Tuesday). Many of the cases have occurred at a nursing home called Life Care Center in Kirkland, WA, where there have been 31 positive tests.
The facility in Federal Way also hosted the Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships for both women and men over the past two weeks.
I know it’s a disappointment, but the cavalier attitude about how it doesn’t affect teenagers, everyone else who cares, is unreal in these comments. Do none of you have anyone over the age of 50 or 60 who you care about more than a amateur sporting event for kids? A parent, grandparent, teacher,coach? Many coaches are well into this age demographic. A friend with asthma, a cancer patient, a friend with an autoimmune disease? The volunteer officials who run these championship meets for your benefit are often older as well.They are attempting to limit the spread of this disease so that they have the resources to take care of the people who do get it. Top universities such as Harvard… Read more »
It’s all overkill. 60,000 people will die in the US this year from Influenza and no one is canceling events. The overreaction is going to cause huge economic damage and make people unwilling to take these kinds of precautions when a truly pandemic and highly fatal disease like MERS hits the country. The fatality rate with COVID-19 is probably under 1% after accounting for underreporting and the fact that most people are non-symptomatic. Older and health compromised people obviously need to take COVID-19 seriously but commonsense measures like washing hands, avoiding travel and crowds, and eating a healthy diet is really the best protection.
“Avoiding travel and crowds”
You mean like going to a swim meet!?
Pac 12 was lucky to get their meets in, just in the nick of time.
How lucky will depend on who is sick in two weeks right before NCAAs. There is a 5-10 incubation system and those guys were exposed in airports, restaurants, etc.
But let’s the highest level of competition continue for PAC-12 Men. Word on the street…a few sick people today!
It’s weird there are similar situations happening across the country even in places with none or minimal cases. I’m talking about local meets.
That really sucks for all the kids who’ve been grinding and sacrificing all winter and had their whole season focused on this meet. Even more so for the ones who’ve already flown to Washington (thinking of you Hawaii athletes!).
I want empty stands. This is ratsionaal in US. US case rate is low.
how about not allowing people over the age of 60 or in vulnerable populations in? this is so dumb to cancel a meet that is 90% attended by populations nearly unaffected by this virus. so sad.
The issue isn’t that the people attending are at risk, it’s an issue of spread. Teens aren’t at high risk of dying from it, but can easily be carriers.
You do realize that if a kid were to have the virus, he or she would pass it on to others (kids or adults) without knowing it which could lead those others infecting and killing more elderly people. Holding this meet is literally another opportunity for the virus to spread to the uninfected, potentially leading to more deaths. Just because kids and younger adults “cant die” from the virus doesn’t mean they should get it.
Young adults no lost live but is hard lungs infection and very hard tired 2month.
Many officials are over60. So it’s not just about swimmers
I feel for the swimmers here. I can’t imagine how crushed I would be to have the rug pulled out from under me right before a meet I’d been training for for months. But I also understand the decision, especially in Washington, to do this. We’re all going to see our lives disrupted over the next few months, but it’s necessary to keep the most vulnerable groups safe from this disease.