July 17, 2020 at 11:05 a.m.
Swimmers begin to train amid COVID-19 pandemic
Swimmers begin to train amid COVID-19 pandemic
The Heck Family Community Pool has been opened to allow high school swimmers to get in some offseason work to prepare for the upcoming season. RHS coach Jenny Heck is overseeing the program, which she called "completely different from what we've had with our summer programs in the past."
In the document "Summer Athletics in July" crafted by SDR administration in collaboration with its pandemic response team, it states that all sports-related activities this month will take place outside, but offers this caveat, "unless alternative outdoor activities are not possible and a separate plan is developed and approved by the District and the pandemic team."
While the swimmers could jump in a lake or do dryland exercises, Heck said there's nothing that can replicate training in the pool.
"You really need to be in the pool," she said. "Dryland training is important and great to do, but you need to have feel for the water. It is very unique to other sports. You could be in great shape on dry land, or playing football, playing soccer, tennis, whatever you're doing, but it's a very different getting back into the water. You really need to keep the feel."
"We're looking, really, to get our athletes conditioned more than anything - some strength training, some conditioning," RHS activities director Brian Paulson said. "There might be some sport-specific workouts individually going on right now, but swimming conditioning is a lot different than many other sports."
Still, there are plenty of changes as swimmers begin to prep for their upcoming seasons. The girls' swim season is slated to start Aug. 11, while the boys' swim season starts in November.
Many of the other protocols put in place with the district's July athletics document remain in effect, including self-screening for COVID-19 symptoms, wearing masks whenever possible and sanitizing hands and shared surfaces as much as possible.
Up to 15 swimmers at one time can be inside the five-lane pool inside Rhinelander High School, with up to three swimmers per lane. To maintain social distancing, swimmers in the same lane stop at different portions of the pool between sets, with one swimmer each on the walls at the shallow and deep ends of the pool and the third at the midpoint between the walls.
"We have provided Jenny with a megaphone," Paulson added. "We have also provided her with (the ability of) using the microphone in there, so they can hear instructions and we are not gathering."
To accommodate the capacity limitations, Heck has divided the training into two segments, with boys training for one hour followed by girls training for one hour, with no intermingling between the groups.
The locker rooms adjacent to the pool remain closed, which has made changing a challenge. Swimmers come in wearing their swimsuits under their street clothes to aid in the process.
"It took a lot more coordinating but I think that it seems to be working out well so far," Heck said.
The training sessions began a couple of weeks ago. Heck said she has been encouraged by the attendance for the program, which is voluntary. Both sessions have been at or near capacity.
"I'm very happy the pool is open and all these kids are taking advantage of it," Heck said. "I think the kids are ready. They're excited. They've been cooped up for a long time. They not only miss swimming, they miss being with one another and having something structured to do. I think everybody's just looking for something to go back to normal."
While top swimmers tend to train virtually year-round, that has not been possible with the pandemic shutting down many facilities for several months. While not a perfect solution, Heck said getting some training in will help to mitigate the rust ahead of the start of the competition seasons.
"If they can get in the water now and swim consistently 3-4 days a week, they're going to be ready," she said. "They'll be set. We can get through all the little details with stroke, technique and do all those things. They're going to be in great shape and ready."
The Hodags are looking to keep momentum going after a recent run of success for both its boys' and girls' swim programs. The Hodag boys have been conference and sectional champions each of the last two seasons. The Hodag girls completed the conference-sectional double last year and return the majority of the members of that team, including two-event state champion Malia Francis.
"This is an extremely talented group of girls," Heck said. "This could be one of the best seasons we've had. We have so much depth and talent. We have great incoming freshmen. We should do extremely well this year. We hope that these girls can continue to get in the water and get these preseason swims in."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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