Was strongly suggested not to use change rooms, although they were there and available. I didn’t go in though.
There was a cap on the number at squad, but to be fair that didn’t seem to make a lot of difference for the numebr of people we had. Basically 4 per lane.
Can’t answer but the website suggested yes, more cleaning and an hour mid afternoon where they are closed for a deep clean.
There is a cap, but in reality most squads wouldn’t have more than 4 a lane anyway.
Normal hours
The school squads weren’t there this AM, but schools only reopened yesterday. I suspect not as the National rules are no more than 10 per team, so that would be tight for the waterpolo squad that comes in after us normally.
N/A
Yes, but that was a squad coach rule and in fairness a national rule - here in NZ if you have a cough or cold then “stay home, get tested.” is the law.
Hand gel on table outside front door, sign in, then on way out hand gel and sign out. Contact tracing is a law here, so need to leave name and mobile number. Also we split the lanes so that we had 2 based at each end, ie not all 4 from the same end to maintain more separation. That bit probably doesn’t make a lot of logic*, but stops people being worried and maintains the ‘new normal’ mindset.
my thinking on swimming and Covid is this. As I understand it’s a droplet based disease. So to catch it in a pool, we’d need to assume that it was possible for a droplet of liquid that had not been touched by chlorinated poolwater to be exhaled from someone’s lung (ie not nose) and go through the air, be inhaled and not touch any surface that had chlorine on it to land on a bit of my body that could absorb it. And given the amount of water I manage to inhale at the best of times, let alone after 2 months out of the pool, that’s not all that likely. And in New Zealand, at this time, then you would be more confident at winning the lottery than catching covid from another person out in the community even if you went around licking strangers hands (although certainly you’d catch many many other diseases). Change rooms, toilets, car park - sure I’m cautious about that. In fact I almost thought today the way we all signed in / out was the surest way to actually transfer it between us, not once in the pool.
Our HOA pools where I live in Tampa opened last Friday. These are two separate 25 scy pools about 2 miles apart, each climate controlled for year round use).
Locker rooms open. 25 person per pool limit. Haven’t had to double up in a lane. Haven’t seen more than 10 people at the pool at any one time, maybe 4 actually swimming at most.
No additional cleaning measures but all chairs/chaise lounges have been removed from the pool deck. People may bring their own if they want to lay out.
Local swim team has reopened practice but they are at the other pool and I don’t know what they are doing.
Visits are not time limited.
No kids lessons.
Thankfully, there never were senior’s aqua sessions to begin with at these pools.
No health checks or questionnaires about being symptom free.
No other rules. Hours are somewhat shorter because they are short lifeguards as some of the lifeguard parents would not let them go back to work.
Just back from the pool. Allowable capacity increased to 35 today although I’ve yet to see more than a dozen at any one time. I do not wear a mask to the pool.
In the Woodlands texas, my gym pools opened two weeks ago. Gym just opened today. People wearing nitrile gloves while working out. Pool is two per lane. Three laps pools and when i went today, indoor pool was empty, one outdoor pool had kids team swimming, and other outdoor pool has three adults doing laps in a 5 lane 25yrd pool. Gym and pool were fairly vacant. Anxiety is still the greatest limiting factor right now. Local hospital has seen no rise in cases over last three weeks as we have transitioned to more businesses opening and restaurants allowing dining.
I was surprised at how vague the MA directives were. My local pool is part of a private club, so it sounds like that’s not included? But can’t really be sure. It has a bubble that goes off in the summer, so would be outdoor if it’s allowed to open. By contrast, another other pool I used to swim at is an indoor pool at a high school, so I assume it would be allowed to open as a community pool, but personally I’d feel safer at an outdoor pool.
my thinking on swimming and Covid is this. As I understand it’s a droplet based disease. So to catch it in a pool, we’d need to assume that it was possible for a droplet of liquid that had not been touched by chlorinated poolwater to be exhaled from someone’s lung (ie not nose) and go through the air, be inhaled and not touch any surface that had chlorine on it to land on a bit of my body that could absorb it.
agree, my sense is the pools should be quite safe. The locker rooms, entrance and exit are another question…
I have to wonder about crowded open water in ponds, like all the open water swimming in CO… there’s nothing in the water to kill the virus, so have my doubts about how long it could survive.
CO still under lockdown as the US has minimal testing or tracing, and no isolation except ‘stay home’. I like to see the news from functioning governments, thank you
Just a general question to all of you who responded…if your pool has been open for a while did they stick to their planned procedure, or have they relaxed it so they can operate more economically or did they raise prices to cover for lower number of swimmers in the pool.
My pool has only been opened for 2 weeks now. So, not enough time yet to mature beyond the “this is crazy” state we are in now. Per above, transmission risk at an indoor chlorinated pool rounds to 0. My pool’s procedures:
Must reserve a lane (only available to reserve within 24 hours)45 minute swim session per reservation
One swimmer per laneSwimmers must stage at opposite ends of the pool on side-by-side lanesSwimmers must follow a one-way path around the pool and use separate entrance and exit doorsEveryone must wear a mask into the facility, but they can remove the mask while exercisingEveryone must submit an I-don’t-have-a-fever questionnaire the day of going to the facilityEveryone gets temperature checked before entering the facility
In the 15 minutes between each session, the lifeguard wipes down all the surfaces that were touched within the pool areaLocker rooms are closedWater fountains are bagged (closed)
Atlanta, GA, USA. These are the metro YMCA policies. Most private neighborhood pools have not opened yet. (The private pools are held-up by their respective counties who must inspect them, but the counties are way behind conducting their inspections.) I am not aware of any other commercial pools in my area that have opened.
The YMCA pools in Oklahoma City opened last week. They check your temperature when you enter the building. Only one person is allowed per lane. You have to sign up online to reserve your lane within 24 hours. One lane is open for walk-ins, but only one person is allowed in that lane at a time too. Swim sessions are restricted to 45 minutes per person.
I live in NH and my gym, same as where my son does his regional swim team, has started opening up. My son’s swim team is offering optional sessions right now. He’s done 1 and is doing another tonight so I’ll get to see what it’s like. From the description they are keeping it to 2 lanes per kid (starting and finishing at opposite ends), no bags or equipment into the pool area (no pull buoys, fins, boards, etc), come in your suit and leave in your suit, you have a spot marked on the bleacher for you 6’ from others to put your towel and shoes, masks on until you are in the water, no food only 1 water bottle clearly marked.
Procedures at my pool are pretty strict. Need to make a reservation 48hrs in advance. Only 6 swimmers, 1 person per lane, in 90 min blocks (same block as exercise equipment). Then, they close for 30 min and clean everything. No swim lessons or swim team. All the doors remain open. I can literally walk in from the street, scan my badge from a distance, verify my reservation through plexi glass and go straight to my lane without touching anything. The locker rooms are open, but rarely used by the pool. With only 6 swimmers every two hours not much crossing paths.
The rules for the pools at the local YMCAs where I live:
Locker rooms are *only *for people swimmingPool access is limited to 1 person per lane (it’s kind of like a dream come true)No reservations; first come, first served1 hour limitthey close the pool twice a day for an hour to clean the deck area and locker roomNo usage of normal pool equipment (kick boards, fins, etc.)
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just got the news of re-opening at the HRCA rec centers -
June 8 – Pools will be open for lap swimming and aquatics programs only. 20 person capacity at each pool. One person per lane.
June 22 – Outdoor pools will be open BY RESERVATION ONLY - 50 person capacity at each pool (see information below for reservations and how to reserve a time slot).
Several new procedures are in place:
Only members are allowed to use our pools at this time – no guest passes will be available.
Temperature checks will be done on anyone entering the pool area
Mask use is encouraged on pool decks, not while in the pool
Maintain 6 feet of social distance
Lifeguards will not be required to wear masks while actively guarding the pools. They will wear masks when off the stand.
Restrooms and deck showers will remain open; however, no locker room usage will be available. Please arrive ready to swim and plan to shower at home.
Lap Swim and Aquatic Programs
No reservations are required, but there is a 20 person capacity at each pool. If you arrive and the pool is at maximum capacity you will be asked to wait outside the pool area.
Only one person is allowed per lane.
**
I’ll get my reservations in for lanes, as soon as they open up the system
when you swim at pools locally do you have limitations in terms of people being able to enter the change rooms - locker rooms are open, every other locker is to be used, with no more than 4 people within a locker bay at a time.are there additional limitations on swimmers per lane during public swim before Covid19 broke out - doesn’t seem to beare there additional cleaning measures in the change rooms? They say they are doing additional cleaning, and have modified hours to allow for more time to cleanare teams able to practice and if they can, at full capacity or reduced - no ideaare visits also time limited - don’t seem to beare they conducting kids lessons - not sureare they conducting seniors aqua fit sessions - not suredo you need to show you are symptom free etc - no, but they have signs up asking if you don’t feel well/sick to not enter the facilityany additional rules that are new that did not exist previously worth noting?
Swam twice at my Lifetime Fitness that just opened this week. Once indoors and once outside. Rules above seem to be the same for each lap pool.
YMCA, only 2 to a lane, drinking fountains and sauna are closed. Besides that, nothing has really changed. This is in a county that has 99.6% of people without the virus.
Here in Ontario, Canada (Canada’s largest province) in phase 2 re opening that starts on Friday the Provinical govt gave the go ahead to open pools. Pools are operated by either city or privately so now its up to the city to figure out. I believe they will gravitate towards what Swim Canada has put out (not like there are any virulogical experts there who know anything about airborne transmission or transmission via contact, but they have put out some guidelines, so the cities not knowing better will likely follow what they put out.)
Based on this thread, across the USA, there a wide range of what is going on, some of which falls in line with what USA swimming is saying other stuff that’s very localized (its not like USA Swimming has a say in how a private pool operator works).
Alberta announced today that pools/rec centers/gyms/team sports have been moved from phase three to phase two (phase two starts Friday). It will be interesting to see how things go. I swim at city facilities and the city is itching for cash, so here’s hoping…
