Message from the President to all members:
Dear Otters,
I am writing to give you an update on how the Otter Committee is planning for a restart of swimming and water polo, and also give you quick heads up on some of the issues that might have a bearing on what swimming and water polo might look like in the short- to medium-term future.
Lockdown restrictions are now being eased across many sectors. Sadly, the easing does not yet include leisure centres and swimming pools, although we are hopeful that it soon will, perhaps from as early as mid-July.
On 15th June “Swim England” published its Guidance to help the aquatics sector prepare for “Returning to the Pool”. That guidance is being regularly updated and expanded.
In the expectation that a reopening for pools will be announced shortly the Otter Committee is now actively engaged with planning for that restart. The key part of that planning will be a huge Risk Assessment exercise, accompanied by an Implementation Plan.
We have appointed Lesley Davies as the Otter Covid-19 lead, and have identified representatives from each Section to help Lesley prepare the required venue specific and discipline-specific Risk Assessments. In due course, we will need to recruit volunteers from across the club to make sure that we have someone on deck at each session to monitor compliance with the relevant Otter Risk Assessment.
A large part of our planning will be driven by what measures our various “Pool Operators” put in place at their venues. However, until the government announces a formal date for a reopening we expect little or non-existent engagement from our Pool Operators, simply because at the local level the staff are mostly on furlough; this fact is also likely to mean that it will be many weeks after a reopening announcement before some venues will be ready to open their doors again.
At this stage, there is still much uncertainty about what club aquatics will look like in the near future. There is a general expectation that some venues will not re-open as Covid-19 risk mitigation measures will make them financially non-viable. For the venues that do re-open, we can expect big changes. There will certainly be different entry and exit protocols, it is quite likely that individual club training sessions will be shortened (to allow for the changed entry and exit protocols) and also that fewer numbers will be allowed in the pools. All such Pool Operator imposed changes will have to be included in the Otter Risk Assessments and our Implementation protocols and procedures developed to take account of the new situation and be as fair as possible for all Otter members.
Also, it is almost inevitable that there will be an impact on the financial situation of many UK swimming clubs, most likely a negative impact. Some clubs may not survive. There are still too many unknowns for us to be able to assess the financial impact on Otter and its members. Fortunately, Otter is better placed financially than most.
To help our planning we will soon be conducting a survey of members to assess how Otters are looking at an imminent reopening. We hope everyone will complete the survey.
We will send out further updates as our “Return to the Pool” plans take shape.
Please all look after yourselves and your families.
Stay safe.
On behalf of the Otter Committee
Paul Hindle
President