{"id":423332,"date":"2020-03-19T16:27:58","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T23:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=423332"},"modified":"2020-03-19T16:27:58","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T23:27:58","slug":"jacob-pebley-to-usa-swimming-only-moral-option-is-postponing-trials-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/jacob-pebley-to-usa-swimming-only-moral-option-is-postponing-trials-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacob Pebley to USA Swimming: \u201cOnly Moral Option\u201d is Postponing Trials, Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

The groundswell of sentiment pushing for postponement of the 2020 USA Olympic Trials and 2020 Olympics Games in light of the coronavirus global pandemic is growing. Thursday, it gained a prominent voice from the athlete community. In a letter posted to his Instagram account, American Olympian Jacob Pebley<\/strong> called on USA Swimming to move to postpone the 2020 Games in Tokyo.<\/p>\n

\u201cUSA Swimming has the opportunity to lead the push for the only moral option in light of this unprecedented situation,\u201d Pebley wrote. \u201cI am asking for USA Swimming to publicly advocate for postponement of both Trials and the Olympic Games in the best interest of vulnerable people and already overburdened health systems around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pebley, 26, finished fifth in the 200 backstroke<\/a> at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. He acknowledged the risks that he and other athletes go to, in light of the restrictions on public gatherings, to maintain their training, and that removing the carrot of the Olympics would alleviate that incentive. He also calls on athletes to advocate for postponement:<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can we, members of Team USA and role models for hundreds of thousands of young athletes, attend Olympics Trials\/the Olympics in good conscience? To do so would fly in the face of all emerging evidence and best practices for social distancing and protecting the health of vulnerable communities.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Other voices within American swimming, including prominent coaches Bob Bowman<\/strong> and Frank Busch<\/strong>, have called on USA Swimming to take the lead in postponing their trials<\/a> and the Olympics until the world gets a handle on the COVID-19 crisis. Pebley\u2019s latter, which received support from several athletes online, would present a new, athlete-centric push.<\/p>\n

Pebley\u2019s full letter is below:<\/p>\n

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Links: – Study: https:\/\/www.imperial.ac.uk\/media\/imperial-college\/medicine\/sph\/ide\/gida-fellowships\/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf – Implications of study, per the UM Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy: http:\/\/www.cidrap.umn.edu\/news-perspective\/2020\/03\/modeling-study-suggests-18-months-covid-19-social-distancing-much<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Jacob Pebley<\/a> (@jacob.pebley) on