{"id":432782,"date":"2020-05-21T16:05:16","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T23:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=432782"},"modified":"2020-06-03T17:17:43","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T00:17:43","slug":"tips-and-tricks-for-social-distancing-your-swim-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tips-and-tricks-for-social-distancing-your-swim-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips and Tricks for Social Distancing Your Swim Groups"},"content":{"rendered":"

While there are some people that still believe that swim teams will just \u2018go back to normal\u2019 swim practices and others that feel we shouldn\u2019t swim until we have a vaccine, most can clearly agree that we will need to make some changes in the way we run swim practices in 2020.\u00a0 The industry\u2019s process of stopping all swimmers at the walls between each swim distance is the singular most profound change we have to contend with.\u00a0 Any attempt at 6-10 feet of social distancing makes it nearly impossible to have 2+ swimmers stop together at a wall.\u00a0 As coaches all of our sets are designed around stopping each swim group at the walls.\u00a0 We fuss about swimmers not \u2018hanging on the lane lines\u2019 and have always struggled with the fact that the last swimmers in each lane typically don\u2019t even touch the walls at the end of each swim.\u00a0 But these are the very principals that we have to consider as \u2018essential\u2019 as we get back into the pool.\u00a0 Some options tossed around in the industry so far:<\/p>\n

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  1. USA Swimming offered some templates for starting some swimmers on the walls and others in the middle of the pool.\u00a0 This seems unfair to those that are not starting on the walls.\u00a0 What happens when the swimmers leaving from the wall instantly run over those that are starting without the power of the wall to push from?\u00a0 How are we marking the lanes so the swimmers stationed out in the lanes know where to stop?\u00a0 A marker on the floor is an easy answer until we want to swim a backstroke or a back kick\u2026 then we have swimmers running into each other.\u00a0 Will the swimmers in the middle of the pool hear the instructions or read the board properly?<\/li>\n
  2. Some teams are trying to focus 100% on all sets starting and stopping at the walls but keeping only 2 swimmers on each wall\u2026 one that stops at the wall and the other that stops at the flags.\u00a0 Then do a normal \u20185 sec\u2019 restart.\u00a0 However, this means that the second swimmer has 5 seconds to work their way to the wall to push off on their time.\u00a0 This will inevitably mean that the second swimmer will be encroaching on the first swimmer before they leave.\u00a0 This also only allows for 2 or maybe 4 (if using both walls) swimmers per lane).<\/li>\n
  3. Many teams will only allow 1 swimmer per lane.\u00a0 Simple enough of course but hard to pay for lane time, let alone coaches at this rate.\u00a0 And this largely disregards anything but senior elite groups and alienates all other swimmers on the team.\u00a0 So teams using this approach will have to eventually find a way to open up their program to others on the team.<\/li>\n
  4. Some teams have 2 per lane with 1 on each end of the wall.\u00a0\u00a0 Again, simple enough to run our normal practices this way but only a short term answer for most teams.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So much of what we do as coaches and as swim teams is about perception.\u00a0 Perceptions by our swimmers, their parents, and ourselves.\u00a0 In highly competitive metropolitan areas, every team knows that perception will cause them to gain or lose swimmers on their team.\u00a0 But now even rural areas with little local competition to steal their swimmers also have to realize that if their parents and swimmers don\u2019t feel safe with our new program, they will likely not come to practice at all or quickly drop out.\u00a0 When the problems of social distancing become a reality in our swim practices, perceptions of our safety and team proficiency will be put to the test.\u00a0 Our team has already started back to practice and our experience is that our swimmers are much more aware of their social distancing than we thought they would be.\u00a0 They are a little more jumpy and a little more aware. Yes, they tend to get too close when they are outside the pool facility and are hanging out.\u00a0 But when in the water, it only takes one swimmer to be jumpy about no one touching their snorkel, someone swimming up on them at the end of a distance, etc\u2026 before the \u2018awareness\u2019 takes hold quickly with the entire group.\u00a0 And that is where us coaches come in\u2026 did we properly plan for this ahead of time?\u00a0 Are we supportive of social distancing?\u00a0 Are we being the \u2018bad guys\u2019 and correcting mistakes of some swimmers that ignore social distancing so their teammates don\u2019t have to fuss at them and look like jerks?\u00a0 If we aren\u2019t doing the job of enforcing social distancing we take a risk of losing our team entirely. Agree with it or not, it is a necessity that we manage the perceptions of our teams and do our best to socially distance while also doing our jobs of coaching their bodies back into shape.<\/p>\n