The Metropolitan Swimming LSC, one of 59 Local Swimming Committees that manage regional activity under the umbrella of USA Swimming, has cancelled the existing long course schedule for the summer of 2020. Metropolitan Swimming serves the New York City area that has been the hardest-hit region of the United States during the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision was announced on Friday by a letter from Metropolitan Swimming LSC and its General Chair Eric Fisher.
At a Board of Directors meeting last week, a vote was held and a decision was made to cancel the entire 2020 long course meet schedule, which includes the 2020 Summer Junior Olympics and 2020 Summer Senior Metropolitan Swimming Championships.
“No one knows what restrictions or regulations specific facilities will institute to promote a healthy and safe environment,” the letter said in justifying the decision. “Most important to the BOD and likely all our LSC members, is the consideration of athlete wellness and preparedness. Given an extensive period of time out of the water with no real idea of what training will look like when we are able to return to the pool, freeing up the summer for our athletes to enjoy their sport they love so much is of our utmost priority.”
Like many LSCs that have made similar decisions, the board was careful to say that it has not voted to restrict all meets for the summer, including “time trial events, virtual meets, or limited competition based on guidelines that we will be given from our local governments and USA Swimming.
“Should the opportunity for those arise down the road, alternative sanctions will be considered.”
USA Swimming has said they won’t approve or sanction any meets until at least June.
SwimSwam has previously reported major alterations to schedules for 5 other LSCs. Maryland Swimming is the most recent cancellation, also voting late last week to cancel its scheduled summer events. Gulf Swimming canceled its traditional season and is looking into options that align with state guidelines. Wisconsin swimming canceled all championship scheduled events for the season, but not “regular season” meets, with North Dakota Swimming making a similar decision. Connecticut Swimming also cancelled their meet schedule, but like other LSCs has promised to explore options for virtual or other meets.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the 3 American counties with the most deaths from coronavirus, Queens, Kings, and Bronx, are all in the Metropolitan Swimming LSC, as are 6 of the top 9. The state has seen a dramatic decrease in cases over the last week, however, after peaking in early April. The state saw its fewest cases and deaths in almost 2 months on Monday.
Full Announcement is below:
The Metropolitan Board of Directors hopes this note finds you safe and healthy.
Recent news out of New York State has been positive in regard to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Regulations and restrictions put into place have proven to help “flatten the curve.”
With that knowledge and information being disseminated from USA Swimming HQ, the Metropolitan Board of Directors have been having ongoing discussions about what “normal” will look like when operations can resume. Being that the Metropolitan area has been a hotspot area of the COVID pandemic, the new “normal” in our area will likely look quite different from what our day-to-day looked like prior to March 2020.
At the Board of Director meeting on Wednesday April 29, 2020, the Board voted to cancel the existing 2020 Long Course Meet Schedule, including the 2020 Summer Junior Olympics and the 2020 Summer Senior Metropolitan Swimming Championships. This decision was made considering several factors, including the cancellation of larger meets in our area and nationally, including the Age Group Zone Championships, Senior Zone Championships, and all National events scheduled for August. Additionally, no one knows what restrictions or regulations specific facilities will institute to promote a healthy and safe environment. Most important to the BOD and likely all our LSC members, is the consideration of athlete wellness and preparedness. Given an extensive period of time out of the water with no real idea of what training will look like when we are able to return to the pool, freeing up the summer for our athletes to enjoy their sport they love so much is of our utmost priority.
With that said, the Board of Directors has not restricted the ability of teams to potentially host time trial events, virtual meets, or limited competition based on guidelines that we will be given from our local governments and USA Swimming. Should the opportunity for those arise down the road, alternative sanctions will be considered.
The last week has provided some semblance of a light at the end of the tunnel for what has been a challenging six weeks. Our BOD is meeting on a regular basis to examine the ever changing situation of this pandemic and we look forward to hopefully bringing you good news as we continue forward and are here to support our teams and athletes.
In closing, wishing you all safe and healthy.
The Metropolitan Swimming Board of Directors
