What the Guidelines for Nationwide Reopening Mean for Swimming

Thursday, Donald Trump rolled out a three-phase procedure titled Opening Up America Again that will gradually ease the rules of social distancing in the United States allowing for normal life to resume.

In order for swimming to return to normal, gyms, pools, and spas will need to reopen and people will need to be allowed to meet in groups of 50 or more. While some training groups could work with the 10-person group limit currently in place–assuming they also have a facility–that small of a number would not be feasible for most swim teams, especially in regards to age group practices.

Before states can begin the three-phase reopening plan they must meet the following criteria:

Symptoms: [A] downward trajectory of influenza-like illnesses (ILI) reported within a 14-day period AND [a] downward trajectory of covid-like syndromic cases reported within a 14-day period.

Cases: [A] downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period OR [a] downward trajectory of positive tests as a percent of total tests within a 14-day period (flat or increasing volume of tests).

Hospitals: Treat all patients without crisis care AND [a] robust testing program in place for at-risk healthcare workers, including emerging antibody testing.

Assuming states can meet these criteria, phase one will make only minor changes to the current social distancing practices with the exception that large venues (e.g., sit-down dining, movie theaters, sporting venues, places of worship) will be allowed to “operate under strict physical distancing protocols,” and gyms will be allowed to open “if they adhere to strict physical distancing and sanitation protocols.” Schools and “organized youth activities” must remain closed during phase one, which could mean that swim practices will not be allowed to resume even though gyms are allowed to reopen.

Phase two will allow for schools and “organized youth activities” to reopen, which could be the green light for some swim teams, though some facilities may remain closed if operating costs outweigh rental revenue from swim teams. Furthermore, large venues will be allowed to operate under “moderate physical distancing protocols,” an easing of phase one’s “strict physical distancing” guidelines.

Phase three will ease restrictions even further by allowing large venues to operate under “limited physical distancing protocols.” Individuals will also be allowed to visit hospitals and senior living facilities once again, a concession not given during either phase one or phase two.

The precise timeline of these measures remains fluid as states must first meet the three criteria including a downward trajectory of reported illnesses over a 14-day period, a downward trajectory of positive tests, as well as an increased ability to treat all patients and test all who require testing.

Even as gyms reopen, many pools owned by schools and universities might remain closed, which could hinder the full-scale “reopening” of the summer swim season. Community-owned facilities and seasonal pools could open even as others remain shut down, potentially opening up practice opportunities for teams in the area, though some cities, such as Manhattan, Kansas, have decided to close all public swimming pools and cancel all summer programs for 2020. In addition to the 2020 swimming pool season, Manhattan (KS) has also canceled all remaining 2020 youth and adult sports leagues and recreation sponsored camps. Covington, Kentucky, will not be opening its public swimming pools for the summer of 2020.

USA Swimming stated Friday that it won’t sanction meets through at least May 31st. Swim teams began suspending practices in mid-March, meanwhile high school spring sports and many end-of-season competitions were cancelled in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

A study by Harvard University warned that some degree of social distancing might be necessary until 2022. A vaccine for COVID-19 has not yet been verified but could be ready for mass production as soon as autumn, though that is still months away at the earliest.

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Bison2000
4 years ago

I’ve been in an out of the sport since the early 1960s. Had some great experiences, including a couple of years on the California coast studying so much age group to Olympic swimming and coaching talent like George and Peter. It’s old age nostalgia I suppose, but I’m very sorry to see so many professionals, part timers, and fans so upset and antagonistic about this situation. Part of the issue is all levels of government and politics trying to ‘guide’ us and experiment with power… so division gets ramped up. Another part of the issue is that all levels of medicine and health experts are not in agreement and don’t really know much about about aspects of the bug, how… Read more »

HappyKat
4 years ago

Doesn’t chlorine kill the virus which is why people have hoarded bleach? If no contact between people were to happen before swimming, then wouldn’t it make sense to have as many people as possible swimming in pools with chlorine because they would come out of the water sanitized?

jackback
Reply to  HappyKat
4 years ago

sadly all those people would probably want to breath and maybe on each other !

Bison2000
Reply to  HappyKat
4 years ago

It seems that it does, if the % /concentration is high enough.

Wahooswimfan
4 years ago

here is a safe way to reopen lap pools for swimming – The CDC has confirmed that the water in properly chlorinated pools kills the Corona Virus. Lap swimming/workouts could be safely permitted by
1) Limiting the number of swimmers to twice the number of available lap lanes (e.g. an 8 lane pool could accommodate 16 at a time, a pool that is 50 meters long and 25 yards/meters wide could accommodate a large group by swimming the short course side to side – and with 25 lanes could handle 50 at a time)
2) Require swimmers to swim no more than 2 per lane, one using each side of the lane, with each using an opposite end… Read more »

coco
Reply to  Wahooswimfan
4 years ago

Which swim team is this and will you allow a few displaced kids rom other teams to join in. Now we have to worry about a few teams training while other teams cant open their pool

Someone
Reply to  Wahooswimfan
4 years ago

My team did this for a week in March before the pool was entirely shut down for a select group of athletes – one person per lane, odd lanes and even lanes resting at opposite ends, no changing or using the locker rooms. At the end of the day the biggest risk, beyond the cost (our team members aren’t getting refunded regardless) are the coaches. Would they work full time every day? It’s hard to imagine a lot of kids’ parents would let them go, and that the younger kids would take social distancing measures seriously. The coaches would be at much higher risk as well.

But god it hurts to not be able to swim.

sanitary swimming
4 years ago

Maybe the pools I visit will start enforcing the “Shower Before Swimming” rule. I never understood why that has been so difficult to comprehend and enforce. This should include the frequent violators: swim teams, in-water instructors, children and senior water aerobics groups. And virtually 90% of everybody else!

Admin
Reply to  sanitary swimming
4 years ago

As it turns out, many plans I’ve seen in places that are reopening or talking about reopening have said “no showers,” so as to reduce the likelihood of people being in close proximity to each other.

Showering before swimming won’t stop the spread of the virus. The portions of the virus that live on your body is not the problem, and for that matter several studies have indicated that chlorine kills that virus.

Rather, it’s the droplet-borne virus that’s the problem, and a shower won’t stop the swimmers from breathing on each other.

Douglas Gray
4 years ago

Kids have a very low rate of infection per capita (only 1.7% of the cases are children). So age group swim practice could possibly resume earlier than some things. The danger is actually senior lap swimmers coming in contact with healthy kids who are hidden carriers of the virus. . But for the children swimmers themselves, the risk is very low. Coronavirus is more contagious than flu, but less than measles, so each individual parent needs to make a decision about their own child. Swim meets are a different story. Different groups of kids from all over, too much density, and then grandparents wanting to show up and see their grand kids swim.

Texas Dad
Reply to  Douglas Gray
4 years ago

The problem is USA-S is a left leaning organization and will want to start sanctioning meets when the last town is in phase 3. The whole equality thing It will cause many teams to fail Team should be able to practice and hold meets based on local/regional guidelines not a ones size fits all from CO

Hiswimcoach
Reply to  Douglas Gray
4 years ago

One of the most intelligent things I’ve seen on this … unfortunately we jumped off the social distancing/lockdown policy without enough evidence instead of taking more modest measures and working to protect our most vulnerable members of society. And no politician is gonna want to back off at this point.

Floater
4 years ago

Give it two more weeks and this will, for all intents and purposes, be over and on to the next “crisis”.

B1G Daddy
Reply to  Floater
4 years ago

Totes. I mean we’ve already been told by every health expert in the world that we are hoping to have “therapeutics” in place for this fall with the hope of a vaccine by Fall, 2021 but Totes.

Reader
4 years ago

Those are ust national guidelines (read: suggestions). It is up to states, cities, and local authorities.

noswimnofun
4 years ago

A question I have is, “If the location where we train has hosted a meet could the facility then be considered a sporting venue?” Then we would be open in Phase I (with strict guidelines). At least for workouts, I agree we need to wait for meets. It is hard to debate the statement later in the article about – Schools and “organized youth activities” must remain closed during Phase I. Schools I understand with small classrooms but swimming outdoors (for those who can) we could meet the strict guidelines and open our pools.

About Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson originally hails from Clay Center, Kansas, where he began swimming at age six with the Clay Center Tiger Sharks, a summer league team. At age 14 he began swimming club year-round with the Manhattan Marlins (Manhattan, KS), which took some convincing from his mother as he was very …

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