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Aldergrove swim club prepares safe return to the pool amid COVID-19 pandemic

鈥榃e just wish they would invite us in on the dialogue,鈥 says Aldergrove Sea Monkeys representative
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Previously, Aldergrove Sea Monkeys swimmers trained while passing one another in the same lane at the ACUCC pool. Now, with the pool reopening, the swim club plans to enforce social distancing with three swimmers, each eight metres apart. (Sea Monkeys Swim Club)

News the 91原创 Township will reopen the pool at Aldergrove Credit Union Community Centre (ACUCC) in a few weeks was music to the ears of Aldergrove Sea Monkey鈥檚 Swim Club representative Anna Nosek.

鈥淲e feel for the Township, we do. We just wish they would invite us in on the dialogue,鈥 Nosek told the Star after submitting a 28-page Return to Swim plan to the municipality July 7 and hearing no word back.

On July 27, Township council voted to partially re-open ACUCC outdoor pool facilities, likely in mid-August.

Mayor Jack Froese said it wasn鈥檛 a 鈥渇ull reopening of rec centres,鈥 and the centre鈥檚 Otter Co-op Outdoor Experience pool wouldn鈥檛 have nearly the number of users it did before the pandemic.

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The two-year-old Aldergrove Sea Monkey鈥檚 swim club 鈥 which refers to ACUCC鈥檚 pool as its home 鈥 had planned to host the Otter Co-op Outdoor Experience鈥檚 first swim meet at the end of March.

鈥淲e had high hopes,鈥 Nosek said, on behalf of the more than 15 swimmers who trained with the club before the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the abrupt shutdown of organized sports.

鈥淏y this point in the summer, some of our swimmers would have likely been invited to regionals,鈥 Nosek mourned, which take place the first week of August.

READ MORE: Skating, swimming return to 91原创 Township rec centres

Returning to swim

The plan for when Sea Monkey swimmers re-enter the pool is to enforce health and safety measures 鈥渁bove and beyond鈥 what the BC Summer Swimming Association (BCSSA) has outlined in its own Return to Swim plan.

鈥淲e will come with our own lifeguards,鈥 Nosek elaborated.

Athletes, as well as Sea Monkey coaching staff, will be screened for COVID-19 upon their arrival for practice.

Swimmers are to use a separate entrance when arriving and leaving, she added.

Once entering the pool, coaches will ensure swimmers are kept three to a lane, eight metres apart.

Instead of swimming back the same 25-metre lane they first ventured down, athletes would use a second lane to return.

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Additionally, Nosek stressed 鈥渢here will only be two places they go 鈥 the lane or the tent.鈥

鈥淲hatever they come with would be stored in their own Rubbermaid container and placed under a tent on the pool deck.鈥

Change rooms would likely be off limits to the swimmers at the Aldergrove pool, Nosek added.





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91原创

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