{"id":422157,"date":"2020-03-12T11:53:45","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T18:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=422157"},"modified":"2020-03-15T14:20:16","modified_gmt":"2020-03-15T21:20:16","slug":"usa-swimming-to-cancel-all-events-for-30-days-amidst-coronavirus-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/usa-swimming-to-cancel-all-events-for-30-days-amidst-coronavirus-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"USA Swimming to Cancel All Events For 30 Days Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

USA Swimming<\/strong> has officially pulled the plug on all events for the next 30 days regarding the coronavirus pandemic, sources have confirmed. That includes all championship meets including NCSAs. Moments later, the NCAA Championships were also cancelled<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The coronavirus pandemic ramped up this week with many American colleges and universities suspending classes and shifting to online schooling for the rest of the semester. Many major sporting events, including the remainder of the NBA season and the NHL season have been put on hold for the time being. Two NBA players from the Utah Jazz,\u00a0Rudy Gobert\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Donovan Mitchell<\/strong>, have tested positive for COVID-19.<\/p>\n

In a letter to its membership, USA swimming revealed that it is meeting daily to assess the situation but advises against events for the near future.<\/p>\n

“We also strongly recommend that our Local Swimming Committees (LSC) and clubs suspend all USA Swimming-sanctioned competitions across the country for the next 30 days,” the letter writes. “Further information about the TYR Pro Swim Series at Mission Viejo, an officially approved FINA qualifying competition for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, will be shared within the next few days.”<\/p>\n

Coaches at programs far and wide are now wondering what the best course of action is, Denmark’s director of swimming Lars Greenbach<\/strong> having sent all Danish swimmers home<\/a> from the National Training Centre under Government guidelines. In the United States, coach Dia C. Rianda<\/strong>, a safety advocate, became the first to suspend a local program: practice at the Monterey Aquatics Swim Club is suspended pending further advice on the virus and in the interests of well-being of athletes and others.<\/p>\n

The USA Swimming decision was one of many hard choices made on a day that included the cancellation of the Danish Open and Olympic Trials, the Swim Open, Stockholm, a Norwegian lockdown that cancelled sport, FINA postponements and cancellations, the cancellation of French Junior Championships and a plea from Italy to halt the Olympic Games to avoid Tokyo 2020 going ahead in July when many of the world’s best swimmers may no longer be in the kind of shape they would have been but for the pandemic and its knock-on effects.<\/p>\n

An Extraordinary Day In Swimming History:<\/h2>\n