Swimming During COVID-19: Closure of Summer Pools a Real Possibility

Carmen Cleare and in Canada

Can’t wait to get back to hydrotherapy pool; hope we don’t have to wait much longer as I need it to stop the pain I have in my hips and shoulder!

Wow! That sounds so amazing! Like everyone here commenting, the water is my home and my breath. Swimming feeds my soul but as a cancer survivor, it is now part of my pain management. I definitely feel that swimmers have been forgotten in the Coronavirus discussion. I hope that you enjoy your swim and relish the soothing sound of your own rhythmic breath, the icy fingers of the water, the strength of your body, and the beautiful harmony of yourself in nature.
And…Happy Birthday early!

When I was a little girl, in the late 60’s, we had several little neighborhoods that were Houston suburbs near what is now the Johnson Space Center. We were lucky enough to have neighbors pools in each of the little subdivisions, and had a wonderful summer swim meet season between 10-12 subdivision teams. I lived at the pool (or so my mother says), going over early for practice (after I stopped hanging on the wall and crying like a baby!) then I would ride my bike home for breakfast, and as soon as I could around 10:30-11:00am, I went back, and pretty much stayed there until dinner time. I was covered in freckles, and constantly had a sunburned nose, but I have the fondest memories of that time! The other children went to my elementary & middle school with me, we all carpooled together when the AAU came to town and we had a new “year round” team we could join. And we all joined the high school swim team as well! The pool is where we hung out with our neighbors, had BBQs and volleyball games, it’s where my mother found our babysitters, and where I got my first babysitting job! It was a great time, and I lament that even without the Corona virus this year, children in my new town (in Florida) will not have that experience, because there just aren’t that many subdivisions around here with a pool for their little community. Such good memories! You know, I earned my first swim cap at 5 years of age, by swimming the 25 fly (and getting 3rd place woo hoo!) it was in Huntsville, AL, and set up long course, but for 8 & unders, they would string a rope across half way, and we just swam to the rope!

Elizabeth Cromwell Austin Agreed. At least let the kids practice. Certainly precautions can be put in to place for practices.

Joe Milinovich even as facilities open up the structure of availability for training will be limited. Elite athletes training at the level Peaty trains looked for alternatives like a backyard endless pool. My guess is it’s not that elite athletes won’t go back to train at pools, it’s more that they don’t have the access they require to train at the level they need to.

Jennifer Jensen Treat If we stopped driving we’d save more than a single life. Life does indeed have risks and the Flu is much more dangerous for the young than the corona virus. IMO the young need to get back to their lives and at risk people should quarantine based on their preference and risk factor.

Alexys Matcuk I agree with you people that live with people with comorbidities should lockdown their households, but those that don’t should not. The US has 300 million people. Everyday on lockdown that equates to over 11,000 lives lived in a single day. So 6 days in lockdown is equal to the lives lost so far in the US. Half of the lives lost are in two states what about the other 48? 80 percent of the lives lost are in LTC facilities. I think even more the focus should be on the LTC facilities! 100,000 people die every month of cancer and heart disease. How will not going to the doctor for 6 weeks effect that number? How about the story of a woman that discovered breast cancer in one breast. She want to remove both, but removing the other is elective and there is a ban on elective medical care? That is an example of one size fits all world we live in today. I’ll grant you not everyone is on lockdown as our former US president was out golfing last weekend violating his governor’s stay at home order while his wife was recording a message to not leave your home to pass to the general public. People are smart they can make their own decisions and choices and mitigate their own risks as they navigate the dangerous thing we call life.

Disagree with that statement. The first could actually be a necessity to live while we all love swimming here it is lower on the totem pole when it comes to times like these.

No

what happens if they open the pools and you contract COVID and have an underlying health condition you don’t know about and end up hospitalized or dead? will opening up the pools be worth it? what if a kid on your team contracts COVID and dies? or a coach? will you still believe the pools were right to open? Peoples live are more important than you being “done” and wanting the pools to open. The pools will open up at some point and everything will go back to normal, but people who lose family due to contracting COVID, their lives will never be the same. Maybe go on a run, a bike ride, or do a home workout instead of pushing for pools to open for your convenience and risking people’s lives.