Phased Return to Pool Plan

Phased Return to Pool Plan notice from the Chairman of the Worcester SC committee

I just wanted to provide everyone with an update on our return to training.

As a Club, we will restart training on Monday 27th July but as previously mentioned this will be on a very phased basis, both in terms of how many swimmers come back and what sessions are available to them.

Initially, we will see just 96 swimmers get back in the water as from Monday, this will be split across 6 groups of 16 swimmers. There will be 4 double lanes in use, with 4 swimmers per lane.

Our main priority is the safety of our swimmers, parents, coaches and centre staff etc. We will use the first two weeks to test that our Covid-19 protocols/rules are fit for purpose and identify any changes we need to make.

If everything goes to plan then we hope to invite more swimmers back to training possibly from the 10th August, but this still needs to be confirmed. Once we introduce more swimmers to the pool, the programme will also inevitably change (slightly) for the first 96 swimmers (timings, number of sessions, etc)
We know that this news will be very disappointing for some swimmers but we do ask for your continued patience and understanding. We are doing our very best to get everyone back into the pool as soon as is possible and we know that things will be very different for quite some time.

We hope to get used to a ‘new normal’ by the end of September and move on from there. In the interim the next 6 to 8 weeks will give us the time and opportunity to focus on skills and technique and to enjoy just being back in the water.

We are also planning to run some squad focused land training sessions on Zoom, for those swimmers who cannot return immediately to training. We will keep you updated over the next few days on this.

A massive amount of work has already gone into getting us back in the pool on Monday. Since returning from Furlough, Mark Stowe has worked tirelessly trying to put squads together. This has been huge undertaking and not one to be underestimated. Mary Adair has also worked so hard putting our risk assessments together along with the club protocols. We have had regular evening Zoom meetings with our Covid19 Working Group after finishing our day jobs. I’d like to express my thanks to Freedom Leisure who have been very supportive and accommodating throughout this process.

Click here to view the club protocols that all swimmers must adhere to when they finally get back in to the pool. It is really important that all points are understood and followed. As you will be able to see from this document the process has not been an easy one to put together.

Click here to view the Health Survey and the Return to Pool Declaration. Both these documents have been emailed out as word documents and will need to be signed and returned to mary.adair@worcestersc.co.uk before swimmers can return to the pool.

Please see below the video showing swimmers and parents what the new training session will looking which includes arriving and leaving the pool and what social distancing will be in place.

If anyone has any questions or worries please do get in touch with either myself, Mark or Mary.

We really are looking forwards to seeing everyone again.

Thank you and kind regards

Jo
Club Chair