S'pore Swimming Association to introduce vaccination-differentiated measures at competitions

SINGAPORE - The Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) will introduce vaccination-differentiated safe management measures at all its competitions from Tuesday (Feb 1), in line with national policy guidelines, said a spokesman for the national sports association.

The Ministry of Health announced on Dec 14, 2021 that all events, regardless of size, must have vaccination-differentiated safe management measures from Feb 1 in order to proceed - a change from the current rule that gives concessions to events hosting fewer than 50 people.

This means only those who are fully vaccinated, medically ineligible for Covid-19 vaccines, or have recovered from the disease, as well as children aged 12 and below, will be allowed to participate in SSA-sanctioned competitions.

"So for all sporting events, basically all the participants, we will need athletes, coaches, teenagers... (to) be vaccinated before they can participate," the spokesman said.

The first event to have the new measures will be the Feb 18-20 Swim Series II at the OCBC Aquatic Centre. Swimmers aged 13 and above will be able to register and compete.

The series aims to provide national-class swimmers with competition opportunities ahead of the Singapore National Age Group Swimming Championships in March - a major games qualifier.

The event's "objective is to establish performance data points for the national and pipeline swimmers", added the SSA spokesman.

Spectators will be able to cheer on the swimmers in person, but this will be dependent on the venue and if it meets the necessary safe management requirements. All spectators must be fully vaccinated, in keeping with the guidelines from Sport Singapore.

To ensure safety for all those involved, the SSA spokesman said swimmers will be moved into the venue at staggered intervals in a group size of 40 each time. There will be an allocated time for warm-ups, stretching, and moving them from point to point.

Two local swimming clubs that The Straits Times spoke to welcomed the measures.

Mr Tan Weide, head coach of Torpedo Swim Team, said: It's good to introduce vaccination-differentiated measures for competitive swimming, so that student athletes can get back to normal training and racing."

He added that the past two years have been tough for coaches as they had to find ways to motivate their athletes without competitions to look forward to during the pandemic.

"This will also allow schools to provide proper rankings for school colours and Direct School Admission and, as a result, swimmers will feel more motivated and will work harder," he added.

Mr Tan encouraged all swimmers to get vaccinated as soon as possible so that they can resume normal training and competition.

Swimmers at his club undergo a toned-down training routine if they have just received their vaccination shots.

He said: "For the two weeks after the vaccinations, they are offered the chance to continue with light training and focus on technical skills such as stroke corrections, and strenuous activity such as distance swimming is suspended."

For swim school aquaDucks, the key focus for junior swimmers is to ease them back into training, said aquatic manager David Verlinde.

"Bearing in mind that the long holidays have just ended and with many kids receiving their vaccination, our focus is to have a fun meet for a start and build it up from there," he said.

"For us, the most important thing is that the swimmers are able to participate in races again."