The Israeli Government started to ease its coronavirus restrictions beginning on Sunday, including allowing select athletes access to public pools to resume training.
According to Israel Swimming Association’s Guy Dar, clubs are now able to access pools with a limited number of people on deck.
“The Israeli government announced that Israeli swimming clubs are allowed to swim in the pools again, after almost two months outside the water due to coronavirus,” Dar told SwimSwam.
The majority of the National Team, including names such as Yakov Toumarkin, Anastasia Gorbenko, Meiron Cheruti, Tomer Frankel, Aviv Barzelay, Lea Polonsky, Ron Polonsky, Daniel Namir and Itay Goldfaden, were able to return last week. Now, all clubs have gotten the green light to get back in the water.
“We’re still only allowed 10 people max at the pool area (nine swimmers and a coach) but it’s a big step for us. There was a massive”Let us swim” campaign on social networks which involved swimmers from all over the country, and we’re glad it worked.”
Namir and Goldfaden notably attend Arizona and South Carolina in the NCAA, respectively, while Lea Polonsky has just announced her commitment to Cal.
According to the Jerusalem Post, public beaches opened on Sunday “for sports such as swimming and surfing,” while pools were reopened “for professional sport and treatment alone.”
The government is expected to look at reopening malls and gyms over the next week, while parks will remain closed for the time being.