At the Committee meeting last night the main topic for consideration was
the recently issued guidance from Swim England, our national governing body
(which can be found here) and the implications
for our membership.
At the moment all of our facility providers remain open to the general
public or for external hire and it was the decision of the Committee that we
will continue to offer a full training programme until the end of the week,
This will give us a chance to make further contact with our facility providers
and work towards a solution that will enable us to protect our membership
whilst trying to ensure the future viability of the club.
Our intention is to keep our swimmers and coaches as safe as possible.
The guidance we have received is that water and chlorine within swimming pools
helps to kill the virus. However, given the increasing focus on social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 we will be implementing
some immediate changes to our pool and land based training approach:
·
If
any swimmers or coaches fall into the “at-risk” category then we recommend
that government advice is followed and those individuals should
take particular care to minimise their social contact by not continuing to
attend training. The “at-risk” category is as follows:
o People over the age of
70
o Other adults who would
normally be advised to have the flu vaccine (such as those with chronic
diseases)
o Pregnant women
Your
swimmer should not attend training:
· If someone from your household has a
persistent cough or fever – current government advice is that everyone living
there must stay at home for 14 days
·
If
your swimmer has any indication of illness
· If your swimmer has been in close
personal contact with someone who has positively tested for COVID-19 in the
last 14 days then we ask your swimmer does not attend training for 14 days
minimum
From
Wednesday 18th March, to reduce the risk of possible spread within the
various leisure centres no parents / guardians will be allowed
poolside or into any poolside spectator area. This requirement is not in place
for our pools whereby the spectator area is separated from pool by glass
(West Park Leisure Centre). We realise that this may be difficult for those
that are required to stay on site because of the age of their child but would
ask that you bear with us during this time.
We ask all swimmers to:
* Maintain excellent hygiene
* Shower before and after entering the
water
* Wash hands or use hand sanitiser on a
regular basis
* Do not share bottles, snorkels or kit
* Maintain distance from your team
members where possible
* Focus on nutrition and hydration
* Exercise extreme caution in communal
areas of our leisure centres and training facilities
The latest guidance from Parkwood
Leisure, who run West Park and Victoria Park Leisure Centres, can be found here
We are taking all available precautions
to ensure our swimmers remain safe and at this stage wish to continue to offer
training to swimmers providing the above guidance is met in full. We can only
continue to do this if we receive your support in following these instructions. The
coaches will constantly review this situation and react to the
changing dynamics.
In the meantime we would ask that all
members make decisions based on their own and their family’s personal
circumstances – we do not wish anyone to put themselves at additional risk as a
result of decisions made in relation to the club as a whole. The whole LESC
team is important to all of us and we are trying to find a way to support each
other at this difficult time
Obviously this is an unprecedented and fast moving situation and the
committee will review the situation over the next 48 hours, or in the light of
any further government or governing body advice, with a view to offering a
further update on Friday.
Helen Akers
on behalf of Long Eaton SC Committee
