Wisconsin Swimming LSC Cancels All 2020 Summer Championship Events

The Wisconsin Swimming LSC is the latest to cancel its scheduled long course championship meets for the summer of 2020, following in the footsteps of Gulf Swimming and Connecticut Swimming, which made similar announcements this week.

Unlike the other two LSCs, however, Wisconsin Swimming‘s announcement on Saturday mentions that only championship meets are cancelled, while regular season meets are not cancelled. Gulf Swimming and Connecticut Swimming both cancelled all currently-scheduled meets, saying that if long course competition were able to happen this summer, that new events, likely smaller or virtual meets, would be scheduled.

Specifically cancelled by the announcement are the 2020 Summer Wisconsin Swimming Meet Series, all Open Water, Regional Championships, 12 & Under State and 13 & Over State meets in their current form, have been cancelled.

Wisconsin Swimming LSC also specified that the decision by the Board of Directors does not cancel the regular season or impose any regulations on training/practice, stating that “in fact, the BOard is actively preparing a Return to Play and Practice (“RTPP”) that follows the State of Wisconsin “Badger Bounce Back” Phases 1, 2, and 3 guidelines.

USA Swimming has already suspended all sanctioned and approved competitions until May 31st, 2020 nationally.

With the other two LSCs’ announcements, there has been some criticism that the decision was made too early. Wisconsin Swimming, in their announcement, says that they “recognize this decision could have been made later,” but explained the following rationale for their decision:

 

  • Wisconsin Swimming wants to continue playing a positive, proactive role in this nationwide public health crisis.
  • Wisconsin Swimming promotes a level playing field among member clubs. There is a strong recognition that training opportunities may not be available at most facilities until at least July 1 given schools are closed or the remainder of the statutory school year. This leads to an uneven playing field in the weeks leading up to the championship meets, and creates potentially unsafe training situations where swimmers are rushed to prepare for championship meets.
  • Wisconsin Swimming cares about the health and safety of all members, and because this public health crisis disproportionately impacts adults, it is unlikely we will be able to staff these meets with officials and volunteers necessary, nor do so in a safe way.

The Wisconsin Swimming LSC was an early leader in supporting its member clubs through the shutdown, purchasing supplemental insurance to allow clubs to hold remote dryland training sessions. USA Swimming would eventually do the same for all clubs nationally.

According to Worldometer.com, Wisconsin has confirmed 5,687 cases of coronavirus infection, with 266 deaths caused by COVID-19. That means After a steady decline in new cases last week, this week has seen the state’s counts climb again. Friday’s 331 new cases is the highest single-day tally for the state.

Wisconsin Swimming is one of 59 LSCs that are administrative sub-regions of USA Swimming.

 

42
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

42 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
HISWIMCOACH
3 years ago

Time to end the hysteria. Unfortunately our media loves it. Kids getting screwed out of this. They will not look favorably on these politics when they get older.

MD swimdad
Reply to  HISWIMCOACH
3 years ago

Agreed. USS Teddy article in LATimes. All 4800+ crew tested. 856 positive. 50% of positives asymptomatic. 1 death. 0.12% mortality, obviously with a low bias due to average age. Another confirming “test”.

HISWIMCOACH
Reply to  MD swimdad
3 years ago

I guess for those who downvoted MDSWIMDAD’s comment, facts don’t work? Because that’s all he presented. The new “normal” is no facts allowed

Techsuitsareoverrated
3 years ago

Looking forward to the 2021 Virtual Olympic Games

200 SIDESTROKE B CUT
Reply to  Techsuitsareoverrated
3 years ago

Imagine the virtual podium protests!

DEAN IS GOD
3 years ago

If a team can practice, then a team can hold intrasquad meets at the end of the season or whenever they want to.

Meets have a large congregation of people in one place for hours. There’s almost no need for a multi team USA meet this season if there can be separate meets for separate teams

MD swimdad
Reply to  DEAN IS GOD
3 years ago

Certainly better than nothing. Let’s get them back to practice in May.

Inclusive Parent
Reply to  MD swimdad
3 years ago

Better than nothing? Much like injecting bleach or taking meds that are untested and now have been tested and show they kill?

No thanks. I’ll have my kids sit this one out. And as an official, i’m not getting back on a crowded deck for quite a while.

MD swimdad
Reply to  Inclusive Parent
3 years ago

That is your right. Stay home as long as you like. I hope you can make your living at home. Most can’t. If you have enough emergency funds you’ll be fine. Many people and businesses won’t make it another month. If you can’t make your living and don’t have the saving I guess you’ll have to see how it goes with government assistance along many others. Here in MD our HOSPITAL just furloughed a large portion of their staff…

Rookie
Reply to  Inclusive Parent
3 years ago

It will be interesting to see if the people who are so vociferous in shouting down anyone who dares to suggest a path forward out of these lockdowns, will be the same ones whining the loudest over the articles detailing club bankruptcies and college program cuts that are bound to ensue in the coming months.

Doconc
Reply to  MD swimdad
3 years ago

Amen swim dad!

Spread the kids out
No locker rooms
Increase chlorine slightly
No big crowds

Let them practice!

ESP if they have an outdoor poor

DrSwimPhil
Reply to  Doconc
3 years ago

Absolutely no need to “increase chlorine slightly”

There’s significantly more in any pool that’s deemed healthy than what is needed to kill off the virus.

Kate
Reply to  DEAN IS GOD
3 years ago

Our age group swimmer would be happy if she could just get back in the pool to practice or work out on her own. At this point it’s looking like that *might* happen sometime in June if the numbers keep trending down in our state. They may be able to have intrasquad meets in August and that would be fun, but her team’s coaches aren’t expecting actual dual or tri meets (much less invitationals or championships) until the fall.

More testing please
3 years ago

If testing for the virus was widespread and comprehensive, practice might possible under strict guidelines.

MD swimdad
Reply to  More testing please
3 years ago

The random testing is being done and is consistent. There are more than 10X infected than are reported. A new FL study had 16.5X. This means the mortality rate is about 0.4% which is about 3X the seasonal flu (0.13% from 2010 and 2018). This does not justify shutting down businesses or swimming.
Regarding testing and contact tracing the estimate for NY is 2.7M people have or had it. Are we going to contact trace all of them? Do we need to test them all to see if it is 2.5M or 3.0M?
The results are in. Reopen now. Increase hospital capacity and resources in select areas. Protect real at-risk populations. Let the rest of us decide the… Read more »

SwimMom
Reply to  MD swimdad
3 years ago

The mortality rate is insignificant… social distancing is meant to help the hospitals from getting overwhelmed with large numbers of sick people.

MD swimdad
Reply to  SwimMom
3 years ago

When we have a bad flu year hospitals are “overwhelmed”. We need to increase capacity in select areas. NYC was a unique hot spot because of the lack of social distancing and an unaware at-risk population. . Mortality rates have led to the hysteria. Real mortality rates: NY 0.81% Gangelt Germany 0.37% LA 0.20%, Miami 0.17%, Santa Clara 0.15%. Other than NY the rates are not much different than a bad flu year: 0.17% in 2014/2015 (51000 deaths).

Brol
Reply to  MD swimdad
3 years ago

Covid-19 should not be compared to the flu. We don’t really understand it yet. We don’t know its pathogenicity and how immunity to it will work. It is being shown to affect not only the respiratory system, but also the heart/blood vessels, intestines, kidneys, and brain. Relatively young people without risk factors or comorbidities are having major strokes. We don’t see these things with the flu.
Hospitals can be very busy during flu season but really are not being overwhelmed. They don’t run out of PPE (while canceling most elective surgeries to preserve it) during flu season. They don’t pile the dead in refrigerated trailers outside of hospitals during flu season. We are in uncharted territory with this. This… Read more »

Swimmom
Reply to  Brol
3 years ago

Well stated

DrSwimPhil
Reply to  SwimMom
3 years ago

“… social distancing is meant to help the hospitals from getting overwhelmed with large numbers of sick people.”

Which, with the exception of some outliers, hasn’t happened. With a large varying degrees of what “lockdown” means (and in reality, how it’s implemented). At this point, the data is saying there should be very targeted approaches to who/where should be “lockedown”, and everyone else should get back to making the economy get back up and running (and that includes opening pools).

SwimMom
Reply to  DrSwimPhil
3 years ago

Hasn’t happened: because so social distancing. Everyone would be screaming their heads off if hospitals were overwhelmed. Why is it so hard to understand: we are where we are because distancing works.

DrSwimPhil
Reply to  SwimMom
3 years ago

Except there isn’t actual evidence that social distancing is doing that. That was the whole point of my original response to you. The evidence coming out is that there’s a myriad of different “lockdowns” (and yes, social distancing is part of that) with a myriad of different ways people interpret it and live it. And yet, the data is all showing the same thing outside very specific outlier situations. There’s even some preliminary evidence coming out that this has been around for weeks (and possibly months) prior to not knowing about it at all, and yet, even before the phrase “social distancing” was a thing, there wasn’t an overwhelming of the health care system. Add in more current knowledge/data, and…it’s… Read more »

Theswammer
Reply to  MD swimdad
3 years ago

Please don’t bring out studies unless you post the study itself and let people do the research. Many antibody studies were tested anywhere around 2,000-3,000 people in the study. That’s nowhere close to the amount needed to justify the numbers one way or another.

I can antibody test 2,000 people in NYC who primarily work from home anyway and they’re going to test completely different than me testing a group of 2,000 who ride the train everyday.

The studies are nice early indicators but we shouldn’t jump the gun before we get ample testing for the virus itself and ample testing for antibodies.

MD swimdad
Reply to  Theswammer
3 years ago

I’m on a phone and over 50 so I’m not going to try to link a bunch of studies. They are all widely published and easy to find. I understand representative sampling very well. Multiple consistent study results reduce the likelihood that they are all wrong. There is enough information to conclude that the real infection rate is 10X+ the tested/reported rates and that the real mortality rate is far below 1%. Another month of testing to try to refine these numbers will destroy 1000s of businesses. Do you want to contact trace 2.7 million people in NY too before you think it will be safe.

MD swimdad
3 years ago

How do they expect to contact trace a virus that has minor or no symptoms in 80% of cases. See NY, CA and Germany random testing results?
How can something that isn’t possible be an important step in reopening?

Yuri
3 years ago

Let’s continue this madness…. We have Nobel prizes winners and top virologists ( not mad people ) saying that after a period of 70-90 days since when it started spreading the virus disappears itself, so AT LEAST we should wait to see if they are right. But no, because of this crazy hysteria we decide to cancel ALL with MONTHS IN ADVANCE. I repeat once again : the hysteria and ignorance are gonna make 100x the damages of the virus.

Michael
Reply to  Yuri
3 years ago

The. Swimmers. Can’t. Practice. Until. July.

Yuri
Reply to  Yuri
3 years ago

To the ones who downvoted : so you think you know about the virus more than Nobel prizes winners and top virologists ? Amazing….

Brol
Reply to  Yuri
3 years ago

I haven’t seen any infectious disease drs say the novel corona virus will “disappear itself” after 70-90 days. They’re still learning and trying to figure this virus out. The virus won’t magically disappear unless there is no one left to infect – when we finally have a vaccine or we achieve > herd immunity. Most experts fear a second wave at some point

Phil McDade
Reply to  Yuri
3 years ago

I’m told several school-based pools have drained their pools with no plans to fill them until just prior to the start of the fall school athletic season (in Wisconsin that’s early August).

John
Reply to  Yuri
3 years ago

I downvoted, I don’t think that at all, I just think you are adding to the hysteria. I don’t pretend to know all or even some of the answers I. This pandemic but I do know that most unsourced opinions on the I yet et are just white noise

TINY HANDS
Reply to  Yuri
3 years ago

The first case of CovID-19 has been traced back to Nov 17, which is more than 150 days ago. Sooooooo…

Irish Ringer
Reply to  Yuri
3 years ago

I think the news coming out of Santa Clara, LA, NY, and Miami with the antibody testing is positive as it shows significantly more people have had, shown no symptoms and developed antibodies against the virus. When you factor this into the current numbers, the mortality rate goes down to less than 1%. Even NY governor Cuomo came out and said as much based on studies done in NY.

Phil McDade
Reply to  Irish Ringer
3 years ago
MD swimdad
Reply to  Phil McDade
3 years ago

There are studies from NY, Germany and Miami that are consistent with the CA findings. The Diamond Princess is also consistent when adjusted for age risk. I have seen no studies that show that the actual versus reported Coronavirus cases is less tha 10X which leads to the lower mortality rate and the complete impossibility of contact tracing.

Meeeeeee
Reply to  Irish Ringer
3 years ago

Yes in NYC its about 0.5% mortality rate (21% infection rate of 8.4 million with 11,000 deaths). And that is without vaccine or any natural immunity. Likey once herd immunity and vaccine developed season death rate will be similar to seasonal flu.

Swimmom
Reply to  Irish Ringer
3 years ago

They still need to go back in time and investigate flu like deaths from February, which once counted will increase mortality. Also deaths have been occurring at home that have not been included in death toll. Also studies still underway to determine if antibodies actually offer protection. Much about this virus remains unknown.

MD swimdad
Reply to  Swimmom
3 years ago

USS Teddy. All 4845 crew tested. 856 positive cases 50% asymptomatic. 1 death. Mortality rate 0.12%. Clearly biased low because of a relatively younger population. Yet another “test” with the same result. Please wake up. Understand math. Understand risk. I know individual cases and deaths are tragic and this is a big deal but it’s time to stop the hysteria.

Cole
Reply to  Yuri
3 years ago

A lot of time and thought went into this decision. Many clubs can’t start swimming until July at the earliest. I’ve also heard that there may have been an issue with finding meet officials because of COVID-19’s impact on the elderly.

MD swimdad
Reply to  Cole
3 years ago

Please explain the thought behind the need for and execution of contact testing for a virus with over 50 percent asymptomatic cases.

MD swimdad
Reply to  MD swimdad
3 years ago

Contact tracing not testing. Sorry.

cynthia curran
Reply to  Yuri
3 years ago

Its crappy from an economic standpoint. Take New York versus Texas. Texas population is less dense and most people travel in Cars. So, Texas has a lot less deaths and cases than New York.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

Read More »