By Rita Li, Staff Writer
Starting on January 19th, swim workouts have resumed and are currently being held from Monday to Friday from 3:45 pm to 5:45 pm. There were also recent time trials for different events to sort swimmers into JV and Varsity.
To ensure student safety, swimmers have to arrive at practice ten minutes earlier than scheduled to take their temperature and answer all questions regarding COVID-19 exposure outside of the pool. This same protocol is followed by all other Mills athletic teams, where students must respond “No” to all the questions asked before they are permitted to workout. Once on the pool deck, swimmers have to stand six feet apart wearing their face masks while uncovering and covering the pool before and after practice. Swimmers usually follow a “circle etiquette,” which is the practice of swimming through the right-hand side of the shared lane to avoid bumping into an oncoming swimmer head-on. However, swimmers must now start swimming from opposite ends of the lanes to social distance. The lane will be split horizontally instead of vertically, where many swimmers have never been exposed to this new concept of swimming. Coach Wong has to sanitize all equipment used, such as kickboards and lap counters. Though not officially decided, COVID-19 testing may be done every week, with the most recent day for testing on February 2nd.
Tina Lam (12) stated, “I am really happy I got to come back with my friends for my last year of high school swim! It was cool meeting new underclassmen and mentoring them after I finished my sets. Our team is definitely way smaller than before, but that is fine too.”
Due to the proper chlorination of the pool water, the likelihood of contracting the virus is very low. According to experts at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is currently no evidence that Covid-19 spreads throughout water since pool disinfectants like chlorine and bromine should kill the virus. Unlike bacteria, viruses need a host to survive so they do not fare very well with water, air, or surfaces. However, there is still a potential risk for getting infected if the virus spreads from physical contact and respiratory droplets in the water. Despite the risks, Sophia Baltasar (12) believes that returning to regular practice has its benefits as swim practice is probably the first time swimmers have had a consistent exercise schedule and social interaction since early last year. Baltasar wakes up every morning and looks forward to swim practice after school because not only does she get to swim, but she also gets the thrill of in-person socialization with her classmates. Baltasar commented, “I really appreciate how much time and effort our coach, Mr. Keller, and the district have put into creating the opportunity for Mills students to participate in sports once again.”
The return of swim practice is an exciting time socially and physically for the swimmers remaining on the Mills swim team. Swim is permitted in the purple tier and swim meets are
projected to occur from March to June as a CIF Season 2 sport.
