Swimming During a Pandemic: Steps to make your visit safer

In the ‘New Normal’ we all seek to maintain some degree of normalcy through everyday activities like getting hair cuts, going to the pub or exercising. With lockdown restrictions eased many leisure centres have reopened their doors to the public, welcoming back swimmers after a long hiatus. Swimming is a great form of low impact exercise, but many are concerned about how COVID-safe the activity is. We have compiled the top steps you can take to make your swim safer.

Be Pool ready

While research has shown the chlorine in the pool makes swimming a COVID-safe activity, safety precautions must still be taken. Arriving pool ready reduces the amount of time spent in the higher risk areas such as changing rooms, allowing you to get straight into the pool.

Shower at home

It is also suggested that the pre and post-swim shower is taken at home to reduce time spent in higher risk areas, this is still suggested whether showers are available in the swim venue or not.

Stay In Your Lane

One of the newest rules to the pool is absolutely no overtaking. This is to enforce proper social distancing rules inside and outside of the pool. Fortunately, many pools have adopted a multi-lane approach, so whether you’re an aqua amateur or a seasoned swimmer you’ll be able to keep your pace!

Slot Times

Due to the popularity of swimming, and the social distancing regulations in place many venues are opting for a slotted swimming approach. Different venues will have varying capacities depending on their size and resources.

Slow & Steady

Slower swim strokes are recommended in order to reduce the risk of accidentally coming into contact with other swimmers, thankfully many venues have varying speed lanes allowing you to pick up the pace if you want to.

While its crucial to stay COVID-safe in the pool, swim safety cannot be overlooked. At SPSC safety is our utmost priority, for more information on Drowning Detection Systems and how we create safer swim venues read through our Blogs

More Resources:

Swim England – Returning to Pools Guidance https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/tag/coronavirus-advice/

CDC – COVID-19 FAQs https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fphp%2Fwater.html#COVID-19-and-Water