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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Aquatic Union president, Mary Kloppers, says they are in a difficult position to come up with a conclusive plan on the start of the new season.
Their swimming season usually gets underway in September, with local competitions running until around March.
But it’s not yet certain if they will be able to stick to their usual calendar.
While the suspension of all sporting events in March did not have much impact in their activities then, it’s a different scenario now, as they plan for the 2020 to 2021 season.
Swimming is one of the sport codes classified as low risk and they were allowed to train and the union were now hoping to get approval for the start of competitions.
They have submitted their proposal for competitions to the Sports and Recreation Commission, which include the safety measures they have come up.
“It’s very difficult to plan anything right now. . . Ideally, we need to start local competitions in September, as we usually do,’’ she said.
“However, this will be totally dependent on the national Covid-19 policy at the time.
“We have submitted our proposals for competitions, including all possible safety measures to the SRC, for their approval.
“We were only being proactive, with our submission, we cannot and do not realistically expect a response until sport, in general, has been cleared for competition.’’
With the African Union Sports Council Region Five Games, as well as the African Championships, postponed, Kloppers said they do not have any external events lined up at the moment.
“The AUSC Region Five Games, and the African Swimming Championships, have been postponed, so we do not have any external competitions confirmed at this time,’’ she said.
“It is not a relief.
“It’s actually a hindrance because it is difficult to keep an athlete motivated when they don’t have any short-term goal with their training plan.
“It is very much a blank canvas at the moment but our coaches are doing their very best to keep the athletes, as fit as possible, within Covid-19 restrictions.
“Yes, clubs have resumed training.’’
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