[LAP-news] swim lessons after Covid

[Mark Rauterkus]

https://www.aquaticsintl.com/facilities/swim-lessons-in-a-post-pandemic-world_o

Editor's Desk
Swim Lessons in a Post-Pandemic World
At what point to aquatics facilities and swim schools return to pre-COVID
operations?
By Joanne McClain

Now that COVID has eased up, things seem almost normal again. Mask mandates
have been lifted, rush hour traffic is back to being maddening, and people
are, for the most part, back to living their lives without being ruled by
COVID fear. I'm so happy to be out and about, too, and have been spending
some time at my local pool.

In California, where I live, the swim season has started in earnest. My son
is enrolled in a larger swim class this year after previously being in
semi-private lessons, and I have noticed a few things.

For one — and this is, admittedly, an obvious one — class size makes a huge
difference. Last summer, I was able to grab slots for semi-private classes
where the instructor-student ratio was 1:2. My son flourished under such
individualized attention. His current class, however, is 1:8. It's a lot
for one teacher to handle for a short 30 minute session, especially when
the children are younger.

Which brings me to the next observation — most of the kids are between ages
5-8, so my son, at 12, is considerably older. He spends much of the class
waiting for the younger kids to settle down. A far better situation would
be if classes were further categorized and offered by age in addition to
ability. (Of course, this may not be possible in these times, with staffing
issues what they are.)

Lastly, and most curiously, our local pool is still observing COVID
protocols for group swim instruction, which means the teacher is standing
on the deck, trying their best to teach a group of squirrelly kids by
verbally instructing them, instead of being able to show them or help
physically manipulate their limbs into the correct form in the water. As
most of you already know, this is not an ideal way to teach swimming.

Watching the students struggle to improve made me wonder: At what point do
aquatics facilities revert back to pre-COVID protocols? These operational
adaptations, made possible by the tireless work of many industry leaders,
allowed pools to remain open and safe during the pandemic. And these
efforts have been proven to work — there were absolutely zero instances of
COVID spreading at aquatics facilities. But as the virus moves into an
endemic stage, we'll need to assess the level of risk we're willing to take
at our pools.

This has immediate business ramifications. As a parent, I'm starting to
consider looking elsewhere for swim instruction — where the classes are
smaller and the teacher is actually in the pool with students.

What has your facility decided to do about COVID protocols? Are you back to
normal or sticking to the changes?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, Joanne McClain, editor-in-chief of Pool & Spa News and
Aquatics International magazines. She was born and raised in Hawaii, where
she grew to appreciate the beauty and safety of swimming pools after a
hair-raising encounter with a moray eel while snorkeling as a child. Joanne
lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.
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