Indoor swimming during COVID
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Anonymous
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My 14 yo DD is a year round swimmer. She swam this summer outdoors. I am hesitant to put her back in the water indoors, but she is disappointed because it is her main sport.
For those of you more knowledgeable on the topic than I am, do you think that the indoor swimming programs will re- shut down this winter? What about the safety of swimming indoors with little ventilation during corona? I have not been able to get much info about this so was hoping someone with more knowledge about indoor swimming could help me out! I am trying to get to a place where I am comfortable signing her up, but am worried both about the safety during cover and losing a lot of money if the program shuts down! |
Anonymous
| We decided not to enroll for the Fall. DS swam club last year and loved it, and we have been using our NVSL pool this summer for recreation. Even though when you are in the pool itself the risk is supposedly low, I don’t see how we could completely avoid the locker rooms, etc especially when it gets cold. It is also quite a bit of money if it does end up getting cancelled, and I am not completely confident we would get a refund or credit. I do feel badly about it though because it would be great exercise with distance learning. |
Anonymous
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I think it is a mix bag. Any sport indoors is risky. Going through locker rooms/restrooms extremely dangerous. Kids will talk across lanes, etc. But then you have to weigh the need for physical outlets for mental/emotional health, etc. That holds a lot of weight in my world. And,yes, there is a real possibility of a shut down in the fall or winter and losing that money. We are trying to stick to outdoor sports - running, track, skiing, golf, etc. |
Anonymous
| I think the fact that there have been no outbreaks at pools this summer is a good sign. Obviously, the risks increase a lot more by moving inside, but just how much more is unknown. I think all the coaches are taking the precautions seriously -- no one wants to be the team that creates a hot spot and shuts down the sport. We are continuing club swim this year as we feel the risk is worth it. My daughter also does gymnastics indoors, so, clearly we are not the most risk-adverse family. |
Anonymous
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My daughter swam indoors and no problems. She did not use the locker room..arrived and left in her bathing suit and they used the back doors to get direct access to the pools
No outbreaks over 8 weeks. She also did Dryland elsewhere w the team They had strict protocols of testing, distancing, masks etc |
Anonymous
| My kids swam outdoors with her summer team and is rejoining her (indoor) club team next month. The pool uses one door to enter, another to exit. You are not allowed in the locker room except for emergency use of the bathroom. On entry, swimmers use markers on the ground to maintain at least 6 feet of distance and are temperature checked before going to a designated spot on the deck to leave their bag and remove whatever they're wearing over their suit. Masks are required any time you aren't in the water. Although VA allows up to 5 swimmers/lane, they're keeping it at 3-4 whenever possible. They've been running practices this way since late June and it's been successful so far. If they do have to shut down, we'll get dry land programming as well as a credit based on how long the closure lasts and what the pool rental savings amount to. |
Anonymous
Our MD team has operated in the same fashion all summer, and has been back in the water since June without any issues/outbreaks. Our indoor facility will be opening in September, and the team will shift to indoor practice after our outdoor facility closes at the end of Sept. I'm not especially worried - the kids have very little (if any) contact with each other, they wear mask except when in the water, and the locker room is closed. So they basically enter, swim, and then immediately leave the facility. It's also closed to other patrons when the club is practicing. |
Anonymous
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I have been swimming outdoors this summer, and I know Montgomery County indoor pools are or are supposed to be opening.
My concern is possible virus in the air with people breathing hard as they swim. Outdoors I wasn't concerned. I'm not so sure about indoors, but I'm being fairly conservative and DD doesn't swim competitively. |
Anonymous
I think chlorine is a factor in a positive way. I have seen numerous clubs or acting and no Covid outbreaks whatsoever |
Anonymous
| How do they arrange 5 per lane in Virginia to maintain distance? |
Anonymous
| I think they stick to 4 regardless it’s not distanced on lanes next to ea other inky front to back |
Anonymous
| My DH has been lap swimming at our high school, which has a lot of restrictions on capacity and what's open, for several weeks now. I think my concern would be the team/friends aspect and if they can keep distance and wear masks when out of the pool. |
Anonymous
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Nope, indoor swimming is too risky. Especially since you cant wear masks when you swim.
When I lived in London I swam outdoors year round. They heated the pools. It worked fine. |
Anonymous
No but you mostly breathe out through the water. The droplets will be well mixed with the hypochlorite in the water. And the spacing even at 4/lane is quite good. With club swim, you are exposed to the same people every. If your team has a good culture and you trust the other families to not come in if there is any positive among extended contacts, then the risk is lowered further. Like anything else it comes with some risk. This is going to be going on for a while so you need to decide the acceptable risk level, which applies to everything your family does, not just swim. But the risk is pretty low compared to a lot of things people seem to think are ok. |
Anonymous
The problem is different families have different risk tolerance. Many are traveling and eating out (excluding employment) and there is a huge risk from those families. People can spread COVID and be asymptomatic. There have been several reports of COVID on swim teams. NCAP and RMSC. |