By Dave Crampton
Swimming New Zealand is the only federation worldwide that has announced this week that it will be holding Olympic trials this month. In an announcement today, Swimming New Zealand said the New Zealand Open Championships, due to start in Auckland on March 31, will be held but with no spectators. It is understood that if a swimmer feels unwell during the meet, they will have to leave the venue and will be refunded meet entry fees.
The previous day, the New Zealand government announced that anybody travelling to New Zealand, apart from those from the Pacific Islands, will have to self-isolate for 14 days from midnight Sunday to Monday local time in an attempt to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has had eight confirmed cases in New Zealand. An eight-member team from Singapore had intended to compete at the championships.
As a result of the announcement, three teenage swimmers who are based at the Australian St Peter’s Western club, Eve Thomas, Michael Pickett and Lea Muellner, made a mad dash into New Zealand to beat the strict coronavirus quarantine border controls, that would force the swimmers to miss the trials. Thomas is seeking to qualify for Tokyo, having already swam under the qualifying time.
Later this week, Swimming New Zealand will be announcing dates of an additional Olympic trial event in June for those athletes who are not able to compete at this month due to the inbound travel restrictions or are unable to trial at northern hemisphere events due to those events being cancelled.
Extraordinary Events In Swimming History:
Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Italy, France, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Brazil and Japan have all had major meets affected by the coronavirus pandemic, while in the United States, the NCAA Championships have been cancelled and USA Swimming has imposed a 30-day suspension on all events, while Canada is considering what to do about its Olympic trials early next month. In Italy, where swimmers are struggling to maintain normal routines, can’t get to practice and in some cases find pool time, a #stopolympics campaign was launched by the Nuoto website calling on solidarity among swimming nations to recognise that Olympic preparations have been blown off course and that it would be in the interests of fairness to postpone the Games for a time of calm beyond the coronavirus crisis.
Our coverage:
- NCAA Swimming Cancellation: ‘Powerful Stuff When You Have to Mess With Kids’ Dreams’
- Brown Water Polo’s Felix Mercado on Cancellation of Ivy Athletics: Doomsday for Our Season
- The Soak – Coronavirus Pandemic Causes 14th African Swimming Championships To Be Postponed
- Eve Thomas, Michael Pickett and Lea Muellner On Mad Dash Home To New Zealand Olympic Trials To Beat Quarantine Deadline
- Great Britain Olympic Swimming Trials Set To Be Postponed As UK U-Turns On Mass Gatherings & Sports Events
- France Postpones Olympic Swimming Trials & Nationals Until June & All Other National Events Are Off
- Stars React, ‘Restrategize’ after Postponement of Canadian Olympic Trials
- NCAA Agrees Eligibility Relief Appropriate For Spring Sports; Winter Sports Still Uncertain
- Swimming Canada Officially Postpones Olympic Trials, Paralympic Trials
- US Masters Swimming Cancels Spring National Championship
- USA Diving Suspends All Activities For 30 Days
- Ranomi Kromowidjojo Hails Healthcare Heroes & Urges Fans To Fight Coronavirus With Strict Hygiene Protocol
- European Aquatics Championships Swim Into Choppy Waters As Hungary Declares State Of Emergency & Locks Borders
- Dutch Olympic-Qualifier Swim Cups Cancelled In Coronavirus Lockdown
- The Soak – Swim Ireland Announces Postponement Of Olympic Trials Until End Of June
- Swimming Australia Cancels Australian Championships And Age Nationals to Combat Coronaavirus
- Swimming Canada Evaluating Possible Contingency Plans for Olympic Trials
- Spanish Swimming Nationals And Olympic Trials Latest In Wave Of Coronavirus Cancellations
- NCAA Cancels Winter Championships, Including Swimming And Diving
- USA Swimming to Cancel All Events For 30 Days Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic
- France Cancels Junior Nationals On Extraordinary Day In Swim History Ahead of Crunch Decision On Olympic Trials
- Scandinavian Swimming Shutdown: Danish Open, Olympic Trials, Swim Open Stockholm Off; Pools Shut & Norway Bans All Sport Events In Coronavirus Lockdown
- FINA Confirms Postponement of the Men’s Olympic Water Polo Qualifier in Rotterdam
- FINA Cancels/ Postpones Swathe Of Aquatic Events Due To Coronavirus Pandemic, Some Decisions Pending
- Peaty, Anderson & Co Set For Edinburgh Against The Backdrop Of Coronavirus
- Italian Struggle To Find Swimming Pools To Train In Sparks #stopolympics Coronavirus Lockdown Campaign
- The Soak – WADA Warns Of Unintended Consequences As Rodchenkov Act On Whistleblowing Takes Step Closer To Becoming U.S. Law
- British Olympic Association & Athletes Reach Agreement Over IOC Rule
- WHO Set To Give ‘Basic Thoughts’ On Olympics & Coronavirus As Unrepentant Tokyo 2020 Board Member Sounds “Warning Bell”
- NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships Now Closed to Spectators
- COVID-19 Leads Argentina to Cancel South American Championships
- Ivy League To Cancel All Athletic Events Through Remainder Of Spring
- Coronavirus Causes China Olympic Swimming Trials Postponement
- Italy Cancels Olympic Swim Trials & Wave Of Other Aquatic Championships In Coronavirus Lockdown
Guidance on Water and Coronavirus
- Coronavirus And Swimmers: CDC Issues Guidance On Water Transmission & COVID-19
- 2008 Uni of Arizona Research Called For More Study Into Survival Of Coronavirus in Water [UPDATED March 11 – Link To CDC Guide]
Dick Beaver NZL 8 cases … Italy more than 21000 cases, more than 1400 deaths … stupidity is not listening to experts… which NZL did … and imposed the stringent border controls
Is it luck or good management that seems us in this position? Until this weekend NZ too has been relaxed about covid 19
Self isolating isn’t stringent enough we should shut our borders completely. It’s times like this though that I love being a kiwi in our slice of paradise – I hope it stays this way
Jennifer Hunter I love your Kiwi love. I also like the fact that your amazing Kiwi swimming leadership has the intestinal fortitude/guts, and intelligence, to make their own decisions that seem to go against this worldwide mass hysteria.
QUESTIONS:
How many Kiwi’ s have died so far?
How many people identified as having this virus so far?
And what is the total NZ
population?
The numbers just don’t add up to the amount of mass hysteria.
Yes. Do your best prevention. But please support your future swimming Olympians, and their families, who have sacrificed for years. HUGS from across the Pacific.
We have 8 confirmed cases of covid 19 here now but no community spread – it has come from people who have travelled into the country.
No deaths. None of the patients have been very ill only one required hospitalisation. Our population is 5 million. The next 2 weeks are crucial for us as if we make it through that time without the spread a community outbreak is low. We banned cruise ships and today large gatherings over 500 are banned- breaking self isolation today we have been told results in deportation if you are a tourist or you can be held in a medical facility. Schools are practising on line learning in anticipation for closures. Hopefully the mistakes I the rest of the world are not replayed here. My son is a swimmer 14 years old he has been training hard fir nationals in mid April. We hear tomorrow if it’s cancelled ….. or just spectators banned – I’m hoping the latter
