The Week That Was: Pools Beginning to Re-Open

Many coaches and swimmers are beginning to envision a return to the pool deck. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The Week That Was sponsored by Suitmate.

As the coronavirus continues to keep the majority of the world quarantined inside their homes, many people in swimming circles have started envisioning a return to the pool. The Kentucky Local Swimming Committee have written a proposal to the state to re-open pools and Swimming Australia has also devised a plan to get its elite swimmers in the water.

In positive news, Ryan Lochte announced his grandmother had recovered from the virus at age 99.

Read below the five biggest stories in The Week That Was sponsored by Suitmate.

The Week That Was #5: Ryan Lochte Confirms Grandmother Recovered From COVID-19 at Age 99

Photo Courtesy: Connor Trimble

By Andy Ross

Four-time Olympian and current world record holder Ryan Lochte shared on social media that his “99-years-young” grandmother had survived COVID-19.

#4: Swimming Australia Ready to Announce Plan For Return to Water

Diving into the pool could become a reality for Australia’s elite. Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant

By Ian Hanson, Oceania Correspondent

Swimming Australia announced details last week of a plan to assist swim clubs and coaches to safely return to swimming activity.

A notice has been placed on the Swimming Australia website following yesterday’s National Cabinet announcement which saw Prime Minister Scott Morrison unveil the detailed three-phase plan to revitalise Australia’s economy and to bring the country back to life.

And swimming’s return to the pool will be a major part of that plan which will be music to the ears of all in Australia’s vibrant swimming industry from Learn To Swim to Squads and Elites with Swimming Australia revealing its dealings to ensure Australians can get back in the water.

In a statement Swimming Australia said that along with State/Territory associations and the Australian Swimming Coaches And Teachers Association (ASCTA), it had been working with the Australian Institute Of Sport (AIS), Sport Australia and Federal and State Governments to understand the impact and plans for sport, in particular swimming.

“As a collective leadership team across Australia, we have worked on a plan to assist clubs and coaches to safely return to swimming activity, and will release further details next week,” the statement read.

The Week That Was #3: Olympic Champ Gregorio Paltrinieri Changing Coaches

gregorio-paltrinieri-800-free-prelims-2019-world-championships_2

Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant

By Craig Lord, Swimming World Editor-in-Chief

Olympic 1500m freestyle champion Gregorio Paltrinieri is to split with Stefano Morini, his coach of nine years, in a move away from the Italian swimming federation training centre at Ostia to join the Italian national open water squad working under the guidance of Fabrizio Antonelli.

Paltrinieri’s training partner Domenico Acerenza is to follow the first Italian to claim Olympic 1500m gold in the same move.

Paltrinieri’s move represents the first seismic shift in the goal of an Olympic swimming champion as a result of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The one-year postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has brought on an acceleration of Paltrinieri’s desire to shift up from an 800-1500 focus with some open water on the side to an open-water focus aimed at doubling his count of Olympic gold.

#2: European Championships Rescheduled For May 2021

Kristof Milak was expected to be a fan favorite at the Europeans in Budapest – Photo Courtesy: Patrick B. Kraemer

By Craig Lord, Swimming World Editor-in-Chief

The European Swimming Championships have been rescheduled to May 2021. Budapest will remain the host, on May 10-23, a year after the continental showcase for aquatic sports was due to have taken place before the intervention of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

After LEN announced in March that last month that its showcase championships, scheduled for May 11-24 would be postponed until August 17 to 30, that timetable was ruled out by the Budapest organisers and the European Swimming League (LEN) against a backdrop of more than 120,000 deaths from the virus in Europe.

Among nations with the highest infection and mortality rates are leading swim nations Britain, Italy, Spain and France. The curve in the rate of infections is starting to flatten but virologists and other experts continue to advocate extreme caution at a time when a vaccine and remedies that have gone through full clinical trials may be many months, if not a year, away.

The Duna Arena complex will stage most of the action, while Lake Lupa near Budapest will host the open water events.

The Week That Was #1: Kentucky LSC Files Proposal to Re-Open Pools in State

Louisville is likely celebrating a return to the pool soon. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

By Matthew De George

Health officials in Kentucky have decreed that public pools won’t reopen anytime soon. But Kentucky’s local swimming committee (LSC) is fighting against those broad restrictions.

Amy Albiero, the general chair of Kentucky Swimming, has submitted proposals aimed at allowing private pools to work toward reopening during the coronavirus pandemic, even as broader prohibitions will keep most pools closed.

Albiero is at the forefront of that effort in her myriad administrative roles. On behalf of Kentucky Swimming, she filed a proposal to Gov. Andy Beshear this week that lays out a procedure by which the state’s 27 swim teams can reopen. The plans respect public health guidelines, including Kentucky’s Healthy at Work benchmarks, and follow USA Swimming’s resources on reopening.

She encouraged each club to file proposals on their specific operations, something Albiero did on behalf of Cardinal Aquatics, where she is a coach, and SafeSplash + SwimLabs, a training center in Louisville that she owns and operates.

“Our fear is that all facilities will be grouped under one category,” Albiero told Swimming World. “… We want all facilities to be considered separately – that’s the main point, not to umbrella us all into one category.”

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