2020 back to swimming

Chase swimming Club back in action.

A Staffordshire swimming club has become one of the first clubs in the country to get back to training.

Swimmers have been catching up on months of lost time in the pool at both Darlaston Leisure Centre and Chase Leisure Centre.

Chase Swimming Club is back into into regular scheduled training, having been forced to close down operations during the coronavirus lockdown.

The club, which runs four age groups from six to 19, was able to get back to training after the local pools implemented a number of important safety procedures at their venues.

Head coach Paul Grainger said a lot of work had gone into making sure all social distancing measures were in place before swimmers returned to the pool.

He said: "For the first week, it was just our seniors, who are between 13 and 19, going out to train and after that went so well, we've been getting everything organised for the other ages.

"This includes social distancing and the long lane rotation, as well as all the new rules we've put in place for training during this Covid season.

"We've now introduced our younger swimmers to the pool from the second week onwards and they are following our specific plans."

Paul said he and the other coaches had done what they could to keep the swimmers connected during lockdown, with Zoom meetings and online activities.
He said there was a sense of relief that the swimmers could get back into the pool after so long away.

He said: "They were all really desperate to get back in after so long out of the pool and I know how much they missed it.
"For some of them, it has been such a long time, with some of the seniors used to doing six to eight hours a week.

"Now, they're back and they're enjoying it and I just think it's fantastic to be back doing something we all love."

Extracted from original article by the Express and Star, published August 2020.