Although coronavirus lockdowns and overall restrictions are easing up a bit around the world, life and sport as we know it will take a very long time to get back to anything close to normal.
Scottish swimmers are some of the hardest-hit athletes, with Olympians and age groupers alike still not able to get wet in pool water as of today, June 22nd. As we reported last week, although outdoor swimming was allowed in the nation again as of May 29th, indoor pools are off-limits as the country continues to unfold its lockdown-release plan.
With swimmers not able to train, meets as far out as January 2021 have been cancelled within the nation. Just today, the Scottish Schools Swimming Association announced the shutdown of its Championships meet slated for the aforementioned time frame. “We hope that all events will be back to normal in 2022,” read the release.
As for Sweden and Australia, despite the nations’ athletes having gotten back in the water, for the most part, the ripple effects of social distancing and sanitation protocols are still being felt as the 2020/21 competition calendars unfold.
For instance, Queensland, Australia’s State Teams Championships originally scheduled for this summer have been cancelled ‘due to the current COVID-19 landscape that we find ourselves in,’ according to Swimming Queensland.
“We understand this is a disappointing announcement for many of our aspiring team members as this event is traditionally a highlight of the swimming calendar. We are excited to announce that we’re working with Swimming NSW to ensure there will a meaningful, team-based competition. More information will be available in the coming weeks regarding dates, location, meet structure and team selection,” said the organization.
Sweden’s most recent competition to be cancelled is represented by its Open Water Championships. The meet was scheduled for August 15th & 16th, but has been cancelled due to ‘restrictions that apply to public gatherings and other recommendations during the ongoing pandemic.’
Sweden has had more than 56,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and over 5,000 deaths attributed to the virus. According to worldometers, that ranks the country as having the 7th-highest COVID-19 death toll-per capita in the world