{"id":433436,"date":"2020-05-27T05:00:16","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T12:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=433436"},"modified":"2020-05-27T05:15:43","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T12:15:43","slug":"summer-fall-over-before-they-begin-swim-england-cancels-all-remaining-national-events-for-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/summer-fall-over-before-they-begin-swim-england-cancels-all-remaining-national-events-for-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer & Fall Over Before They Begin: Swim England Cancels All Remaining National Events For 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Swim England<\/strong>, the former ASA, has cancelled all its remaining national events for 2020.\u00a0The decision had been taken “to allow the recognised national governing body to start planning for its competitions in 2021” during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic at a time when mass gatherings are not foreseen for much of the rest of the year.<\/p>\n

A return to swimming for elite athletes is in the planning, while open water swimming is one of the sports that are already allowed provided distancing and other safety measures are observed, a move that caused Olympic marathon medallist and former World champion Keri-anne Payne<\/strong> to express concern<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The association’s statement reads: <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“It will also ensure athletes do not rush back to full fitness and potentially put themselves at the risk of injury when pools are eventually reopened.”<\/p>\n

Swim England had already called off events in all disciplines until the end of August because of the Covid-19 pandemic \u00a0\u2013 which included the National Summer Meet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now it has been confirmed the following national competitions will not take place:<\/p>\n