New Face Covering Guidelines at HFSC
Effective today, Monday, July 13th, Hill Farm will be requiring masks for all members age 5 and up. This past week a new order from Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC) was released. While the order applies to indoor spaces, we believe this is an important safety precaution to take even when outdoors, as well as good practice for our younger members since they will be required to wear face masks when they return to school in the fall. Masks will be required at all times while on the pool deck (they are not required inside of the pool).
We have a limited number of masks available at the entrance for "just in case" purposes. Once the masks are gone, we will not be able to admit anyone over the age of 5 without a face covering. Here is a great video that shows just how effective social distancing practices and mask wearing are at helping to prevent the transmission of viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19):
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Just a brief update to inform you all that we are proceeding with our plans to prepare the pool for the modified season! We will begin filling the pool on Friday, June 5th. This process will take a number of days, and then it will take several more days to get the water up to temperature and the chemistry balanced. If all goes according to plan, we are still targeting Saturday, June 20th as our opening day for summer 2020.
Based on the feedback we have received on the preliminary Stage One Opening Plan that we shared with you last week, we are in the process of making a few modifications and will share the updates with you as soon as it has been finalized. We are also working diligently to develop a sign-up process that will be as fair and equitable as possible. We will be operating under new restrictions and with limited occupancy allowances so as to ensure the safety and well-being of our members and staff when they are at the pool. We are excited to see everyone in a safe and socially distanced kind of way! The HFSC Board of Directors The HFSC Board of Directors has drafted new pool operating guidelines for Stage 1 of our pool opening. For full details, please visit the 2020 Pool Opening Plan page.
While not specifically COVID-19 related, we thought this would be a fun break from all of the pandemic news, as we all dream of our local pools reopening as soon as it is safe to do so. Long time Hill Farmers and twin diving phenoms Matt & Jojo Munns made this fun and informative video as they traveled around the Madison area by bike, taking their viewers on a virtual tour of all of the pools in the All City Swim & Dive League and sharing fun facts about each pool along the way (and *spoiler alert* they may have even visited a pool that is no longer a member of the league and the beach where the All City magic first began). In Jojo's words, "All City Swim and Dive has always been an important part of my life and growing up with such a supportive community. To give a little reminder of how amazing these pools are, enjoy this video my amazing brother Matt Munns and I created." The All-City board of directors met (virtually) last night and released the following statement: "There is no higher priority than the health and safety of our athletes and their families. Clearly, the public health emergency associated with COVID-19 requires adjustment to ensure societal well-being. Although it was a difficult decision, the All-City board of directors has unanimously decided to cancel the All-City Swim and Dive Meets for 2020. Due to the gathering restrictions required in the "Forward Dane" Plan from Public Health Madison & Dane County, and our concern for the health and well-being of all athletes, coaches, volunteers, and spectators, the league has also cancelled all dual meet competitions for 2020. These were extremely tough decisions by the board, but in the absence of a vaccine or treatments specific to COVID-19, we need to do our part to safeguard the community." The League is continuing to consider what they can do for this year's seniors, and will be discussing their ideas at the next All-City meeting in June. We will share more information with our Hill Farm members as we learn new details.
At this point, we are moving forward with preparing the pool to open, possibly as early as June 20, although no one can guarantee specific dates at this time. If we do open, we will begin operations at a reduced capacity, following the county/city restrictions and health guidelines in place at that time. This will likely mean that access to the pool and its facilities will be limited in order to maintain social distancing. Our pool directors, Janna and John, have been very proactive in designing multiple different scenarios for pool operations that attempt to offer us all an enjoyable time at the pool while not compromising safety. At a minimum we plan to have hours available for lap swim, water aerobics, and family swim each day. Most access would be handled through a sign-up method with time allowances for a regular and strict cleaning regime. We are still assessing the guidelines and best practices for whether we can offer swim and dive team activities and whether lessons will be an option. The former requires us to wait for more decisions to be made by the All-City league, and the latter has significant ramifications related to our staff's ability to social distance. Although we hope to ease restrictions as time passes, we also have to be prepared to reduce capacity or close as both the public health and pool financial situations require. The board would like to thank all of you who have offered input, asked questions and/or paid your dues thus far. It really does help us plan for the future, as uncertain as it is, and gives us hope that the Hill Farm Swim Club will be up and running for the summer. Moo and Peace, The HFSC Board of Directors Dear Hill Farm Swim Club Members and Friends, The HFSC Board of Directors met (virtually) this past weekend to discuss what the current pandemic situation means for our pool this summer. The short answer is we don't have an answer yet. However, we wanted you to know that the board will be holding weekly virtual meetings to continue this ongoing discussion and will keep our membership informed as soon as we have something more concrete to share. As you are aware, the situation is changing daily, and it is too soon to know how this pandemic will affect our summer season. We plan to have better information to you by early April. We will also be sending out information in early April regarding the revised plan for grounds clean-up that is mindful of social distancing and follows the Public Health Recommendations. We will come through these difficult times stronger as a community. Sending everyone lots of Hill Farm love during this challenging time, HFSC Board of Directors |
Authors: The HFSC Board of DirectorsWe are a group of 9 very committed HFSC members who volunteer our time to help make our swim community the best around. We have created this page to do our best to keep our members informed of the ever-changing situation as relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it affects our pool. Archives |