Indian swimmers waiting to go back to pool


Indian swimmers waiting to go back to pool

It’s only the Indian swimmers who are waiting for the green signal. Swimmers around the world, whether it be from North America, Europe, and to the rest of Asia are back into the pool.

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It is said that the chlorination of water pools reduces the risk of transmission as they inactivate the novel coronavirus. But all the safety measures are been taken as the practice, swimmers wear their swimming costumes before they reach the pool. Not only this but also they are expected to avoid the use of facilities at the pool and take a shower at home before after swims.

Meenakshi Pahuja, a long-distance swimmer who has covered many lakes and channels around the world, said, “For the first time we have eight swimmers who have achieved B-qualification for the Olympics. But while those of other countries are back in the water since May, we are at loss.”

Meenakshi, talks about the upcoming Olympics, pointed out that elite swimmers specially those who are eyeing on A-qualification for the upcoming competition require more time in the pool to get back their rhythm and reach their potential, as it would take quite a while to improve their timings even if it is by a fraction of a second.

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“If the normal allowance is for 80 swimmers is an Olympic size 50-meter pool, we can have one third capacity to ensure distancing norms,” said Meenakshi. Along with this she also mentioned that, 400 pools in Delhi alone and thousands more even in green zones are shut, and it is practically impossible for Indians swimmers to practice.

Even the sports Authority of India (SAI) has categorised canoeing, sailing, rowing etc and also in the D category of the SOP for resumption of sports activity, but this is of what use as until now it has banned swimming activity.

But a proposal has been submitted by the Swimming Federation of India but is awaiting for a response.