Good Afternoon Owl Creek Swim Team,

I hope that your spirits are remaining high and that you are enjoying spending time with family and hopefully knocking out some long-overdue house projects (I know I am). First and foremost, the Owl Creek Swim Board and the Louisville Swim Association (LSA) members WANT to have a summer swim season and have been discussing how we can safely make this happen. Of course, a lot of this depends on our government leaders which we will take direction from as well as cooperation from our fantastic Owl Creek Neighborhood Association board.

Before I get into the notes, I need help from you all. IF the Owl Creek pool does open and we are given the GO AHEAD to have a swim team, will your child(ren) partipate? Our hope is to provide the Owl Creek Neighborhood Association board a ballpark estimate of the number of swimmers. There is also a survey (which I will refer to later in this communication) that I hope you all take the time to complete.

As promised, Brooke Rohrs and myself have jotted down a few notes from Tuesday evening’s LSA Zoom meeting. Please be advised that none of this is set in stone, as this is a very fluid situation. I am providing as much detail as I possibly can here, but things are changing daily. Our goal during this time is to be as transparent as possible. Nevertheless, to the notes:

A number of plans were discussed / debated regarding the potential season, and start / end dates:

• Plan A – Proceed as planned June 1 – July 12 (I think this is highly unlikely)
• Plan B – Push season back two (2) weeks, beginning June 15^th running thru July 26^th
• Plan C – Push season back four (4) weeks, beginning June 29^th running thru August 2^nd
• Plan D – Use end date from Plan A, B or C and reduce the number of dual meets

Regarding Swim Practices, the following options/suggestions/ideas made by LSA members:

• Creating a detailed practice plan to be approved by the respective swim team board
• Shorter practice sessions with few athletes per lane
• Offering Saturday / Sunday practice sessions
• Only allowing athletes to practice on certain days or one of morning/evening
• Starting from opposite ends of the swimming pool
• Adhering to social distancing where everyone starts/ends at different points in the pool
• Swimming down lane 1 back lane 2 etc
• Splitting groups up where half of the swimmers do drylands & others swim/dive
• Eliminating the use of equipment like kickboards
• Parents staying outside the pool area for swimmers ages 7 & over

Suggestions / thoughts regarding Swim Meets:

• Virtual Meets
• Each team swims at their home pool
• One age group at a time
• Fewer events per meet
• Split over a series of nights
• Limiting spectators
• Scoring the most points in a dual meet is not the goal

Again, our primary goal is for everyone to remain safe, yet have fun. These kids have been through a lot and I know everyone was really looking forward to the upcoming swim season. I believe that Owl Creek has the best neighborhood swim team around and that is directly attributable to the commitment of the coaches, swimmers and parents.

In closing, the LSA will be meeting again in two (2) weeks to discuss additional updates. Later today, I will be sending out a survey, developed by Copperfield, in which you will be asked to answer four (4) questions regarding the 2020 LSA swim season. PLEASE take the time to complete it (it is anonymous), as it will assist in helping us gain a better understanding of what participation rates we can expect if the season were go proceed.

Take Care Everyone!

Kyle Dawkins (502) 439-8442

Owl Creek Swim Team President