I just met with the athletics director/department, and we have received good news from the administration and the county health department. Numbers in Lake County have declined, and we no longer meet the criteria for the purple level. We will come off the purple level after this second week of numbers not meeting the criteria.
I want to emphasize that we were not paused for any known cases/reported cases on our swim team. It was part of a larger pause to all school district extracurriculars because of numbers in the county. In addition, everything I see on swim news websites and from medical experts suggests that the virus does not survive in chlorine/well in pool environments. We will continue to follow the policies given to us in order to have a season.
In restarting HS athletics, the athletics director and administration submitted a plan to the county department of health that will result in some changes to our program. We will further decrease numbers/increase distancing in lanes and on deck using assigned groups and practice windows. You will receive a new practice group color indicating your practice time slot on the schedule below. I have attached a screen-shot that demonstrates the intended change. Please note that the plan we submitted was anticipating the max attendance during a practice time and not the actual attendance. While I would love to have 100% attendance, the actual will be and has always been less. When you receive your group email, if there is a conflict or you need help, please let me know. I have a small ability to make changes, but if we have athletes changing from both groups, we can definitely make accommodations. I have also tried to keep siblings together to ease transportation and logistics for families.
From the return to participate plan that was approved, competitions will be phased back in. From following the phases, if everything goes well, it would be the winter holiday. I do not have additional information on the return to competition or an exact date at this time.
Our schedule for this week is listed below. There will be no morning practices until we get the okay to return to them.
Schedule:
Mon 12/7 PM - Off
Tue 12/8 PM - Off
Wed 12/9 PM - Orange Group 2:45-5:00, Blue 2:45-4:30, Green 4:30-6:00
Thu 12/10 PM - Orange Group 2:45-5:00, Blue 2:45-4:30, Green 4:30-6:00
Fri 12/11 PM - Orange Group 2:45-5:00, Blue 2:45-4:30, Green 4:30-6:00
Tentative Practice and Meet Schedule
Tentative Meet Schedule and Status
If you have any questions, please let me know. Go Cards!
