A group of United States-based National Team and Junior National Team swimmers who were training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs are heading home after the state ordered the facility to close in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a source told SwimSwam.
Many of the athletes had planned their trip to the OTC before the outbreak ramped up in the U.S.
The list of athletes who have been at the OTC include Arik Katz, Michael Brinegar, Haley Anderson, Ashley Twichell, Ally McHugh, Gunnar Bentz, Kevin Cordes, Leah Smith, Bethany Gallat, Brandon Fischer, Chase Kalisz, Kaersten Meitz, Matt Grevers, Jonathan Tybur, Nic Fink, Emily Escobedo, Lillie Nordmann, Carson Foster, Lisa Bratton, Zane Grothe, Devon Nowicki and a group of Cal men’s team swimmers training separately under Dave Durden.
That group includes athletes who train out of a number of bases in Arizona, California, Indiana, Georgia, Michigan, New York and Wisconsin.
Professional and amateur swimmers around the country are scrambling to find places to work out in the wake of universities around the country suspending all athletics-related activity for the year, and the White House’s recommendation to limit all gathering to 10 people or fewer.
Olympian Lilly King, for example, told USA Today that she and fellow Indiana University swimmers are struggling to find a pool as both the university and local YMCAs have shuttered. Stanford-based swimmers have also had to leave campus.
Club teams – especially those that practice at publicly-owned facilities – are canceling practice en masse. One remaining option for displaced swimmers (for now) includes privately-owned pools, but even those are starting to close.
After the USA swim team send this email “this includes group training and practice”, my daughter team still cont open. They ignore City, State, even USA swimming rule
Have the games delayed until November.
Weather is not warm enough
I think they’ll either hold it in July or delay by a full year – like it or not US TV rights will dominate the discussion and when it starts to clash with big money sports’ seasons they’ll put their foot down…
Quarantine athletes at OTC in the dorms for two weeks, sanitize the facilities, after two weeks test for Coronavirus. If all clear, then let them train. No visitors and if you leave you can’t return
Good plan!
Staff? They quarantined too? It takes people to run the place.
Sure.. lots of unemployed restaurant and hotel staff right now
Interestingly a number of cities and states are allowing (and in some cases clarifying their previous rules to allow) Golf courses staying open with proper social distancing. No indoor club facilities and keep groups small on courses. Seems like a few swimmers training at, and in particular outdoor, pools really is no different. Of course keeping a pool open, especially if it needs heated water, for 9 swimmers and a coach at a time gets expensive.
I’ve been playing twilight golf on a near empty course. It’s fantastic. If the younger generations hadn’t been stupid enough to demote golf they could be out there as well. Of course, many of them tried then quit once they realized it’s not as easy as they thought, based on playing video games. Swing and a miss. I’m outta here. This is stupid anyway.
There’s 24 hours in a day. So 12 coaches, 108 swimmers can use the pool, each in 2 hr sessions.
Do we know what national team/pro swimmers aren’t getting any pool time at the moment?
We’re trying to piece it together, but it’s hard to get people to share what they’re doing sometimes.
Yes
Plenty. Some of the top athletes are without training facilities right now. I would bet the number of national team/pros swimming is less than the number who aren’t – just a guess.
And it changes daily.
As of today, the CDC and White House are urging a nationwide halt to gatherings of more than 10 people for the next eight weeks, citing the risk of the coronavirus. This includes avoiding eating or drinking in bars, restaurants, and food courts, and discretionary travel, shopping trips and social visits. This should also include team training and practices.
The above is from USA Swimming Web Site. The sentence that says “this should also include” would be quite a bit better if it said, “This includes team training and practices.” Is it just me or is the leadership at USA Swimming missing the boat again? Wow!
After received USA swim team this email. My daughter team still cont open. They ignore City, State, even USA swimming rule.
What’s more likely to happen, a pushback to 2021 then resuming in 2024, cancellation, or resuming a new 4-year cycle starting with 2021-2025?
2022 and then 2024.
How about free water swimming? Offshore off the Florida coast.