COVID-19 Can’t Take Your Season Away!

For thousands of swimmers across the country, March and April typically means it’s time to shave and taper for the pinnacle of your season. The build-up, hard work, sacrifices and months of investment are about to produce your best results to date! Unfortunately, in these unprecedented times of 2020, many championships, presentation nights etc have been cancelled or postponed in light of the growing COVID-19 pandemic.

Those without an understanding of the structure of a swim season, may not be able to comprehend the uniquely heartbreaking situation many of our athletes are currently facing.

Swimmers may feel robbed of opportunities, that they have lost some history from their own personal journey, that the work and sacrifice has been for nothing and while none of us are placing a swim meet above someone else’s health, just because a club championship, or an Age Nationals isn’t the most important thing in the world, doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter!

Parents, siblings, extended family members, friends, teammates, committees and even our officials will get it, but take heed COVID-19 can’t take away what matters!

Swimmers may feel that COVID-19 has robbed them of an entire season. But it hasn’t. Swimming is about more than just the destination. It’s about what they have learnt and how they have grown in the process of this season. It’s about who they are – and though they may not see the improvements they’ve made show up on a scoreboard, the growth in who they are is still there and will be there ready for reignition again for next season.

“Many of our clubs feel that the kids have missed out on so much already. They want to keep them in the sport and demonstrate resilience in the face of adversity, so we are thrilled to be able to offer them products and services that cater for that need.”

Without the finality of this season’s end or a championship event to finish on, many clubs are looking at alternative and creative ways to recognise and acknowledge the achievements of the swimmers who have finished on such a sudden and unparalleled experience.

“Some clubs are even using points systems based of results from targeted meets over the season to decipher who the Age Champion is. Some are delaying Presentation Nights which allows plenty of time to get prizes/gifts organised.”

If this is how your club is feeling and you need to get creative about how to recognise your athletes, contact us to find out how we can help in your situation.