National Events To Proceed

Tena koutou katoa,

Over the past few weeks, our team has been working tirelessly to adjust our upcoming national events so they can be delivered under the current red traffic light of the Covid-19 Protection Framework. We have been working closely with Sport NZ, our Events Advisory Committee, regional staff, Taupo City Council and each venue to comply with these settings and the venue’s respective challenges to comply with these settings as well. We’d like to thank them again for their assistance. We are stoked to share that plans for the national events until the end of May 2022 will proceed under the current Covid-19 Protection Framework settings, which will require all participants to have a valid My Vaccine Passes. We can’t wait to host you at our national events, and we ask for your assistance to help us do so safely. We are strongly encouraging all swimmers, families, and coaches to read this update and information on the respective event webpage thoroughly and for swimmers to make an informed decision before entering. We also ask that swimmers read the Terms & Conditions when entering to understand their responsibilities to assist keeping each other as safe as possible. As noted in Dale’s letter to the community on Friday 4 February, the upcoming national events will be delivered quite differently than they have been in the past to accommodate the current Covid-19 Protection Framework. Regardless of the traffic light colour when the event commences, our plans will be delivered for each event as communicated today so that should the country change traffic light mid-event, we can continue the event. This is so we can provide the greatest level of confidence that the event will proceed under the current Covid-19 Protection Framework. To assist in outlining the differences, we have provided an overview of the key changes for each respective event below. These changes have been made to enable us to run these events. Please note, the alternative option was for these events to be cancelled. The event schedules and event information have been updated significantly and are now available on our event webpages. Please see more details for each event below:

Key changes for Open Water include:

• Relays have been removed

• Pods of 100 will result in swimmers setting off in waves for each respective event

• Pods will be communicated after entries close

• Swimmer packs will be available in your pod pens

• The event area will only be for staff and swimmers and will be fenced off from the public

Please visit our event webpage for more information.

Key changes for Epic Swim include:

• Relays have been removed

• Mini 100m and Minor 500m events have been removed

• Pods of 100 will result in swimmers setting off in waves for each respective event

• Event registration will not be held on Friday, swimmer packs will be available in your pod pens

• The event area will only be for staff and swimmers and will be fenced off from the public

Please visit our event webpage for more information.

This event has been extended to become a 6 day competition, starting a day earlier than scheduled and removing the warm-up day. Entries will be opened on Wednesday 23 February, due to limiting event capacity, competitors will not be charged their entry fees until the psych sheets have confirmed those in each event. Entry fees will then be charged to the credit card saved on the Fast Lane profile.

Key changes include:

• Entries will open Wednesday 23 February 2022

• Qualifying times have not been adjusted

• Relays have been removed

• 4 pods of 100 (2 male, 2 female) with heats and finals within pods

• 50mins warm-up in competition pool prior to session commencing

• Top 24 for 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m events

• Top 16 for 800m and 1500m events

• Top 16 for 50m and 100m Freestyle MC events

• Top 10 for all other MC events

• Timelines and pods will be confirmed once entries are closed

• Results will be collated after each finals sessions, medals sent post-event

• No coaches will be permitted on pool deck due to capacity for swimmers

• No spectators, all sessions will be available on livestream and live results available on Mytogs

Please visit our event webpage for more information.

This event has been extended to become a 6 day competition, starting a day earlier than scheduled and removing the warm-up day. Pods of 100 will be divided by age group and gender and these will be confirmed after entries close. Heats and finals have been replaced by timed finals due to time constraints.

Key changes include:

• Entries will open Wednesday 23 February 2022

• Qualifying times have not been adjusted

• All events will be timed finals

• Relays have been removed

• Pods of 100 will be divided by age groups and gender

• 30mins warm-up in competition pool prior to session commencing

• Timelines and pods will be confirmed once entries are closed

• Medals will be presented at the end of session

• No coaches will be permitted on pool deck due to capacity for swimmers

• No spectators, all sessions will be available on livestream and live results available on Mytogs

Please visit our event webpage for more information.

This event will remain a 5 day competition, with no warm-up day. Pods of 100 will be divided by age group and gender and these will be confirmed after entries close. Heats and finals have been replaced by timed finals due to time constraints.

Key changes include:

• Entries will remain opening on Tuesday 15 March 2022

• Qualifying times have not been adjusted

• All events will be timed finals

• Removal of longer distance events including 400m, 800m and 1500m events

• Relays have been removed

• Timelines and pods of 100 will be confirmed once entries are closed

• 30mins warm-up in competition pool prior to session commencing

• No coaches will be permitted on pool deck due to capacity for swimmers

• No spectators, all sessions will be available on livestream and live results available on Mytogs

Please visit our event webpage for more information.

As part of adhering to the current Covid-19 Protection Framework of 100 people at the event, coaches will not be permitted access on pool deck, and spectators won’t be permitted so we can provide as many swimmers as possible the opportunity to swim. Please note that the health and safety of staff and swimmers is paramount, and we are finalising plans to have a wellbeing person at the event to provide support. Please note that we will have all sessions of the pool events available to watch on livestream and live results on the Mytogs app. We are encouraging everyone to utilise both offerings and follow our updates on the Swimming NZ social media channels. We are encouraging every club to consider who needs to travel to the location of each event and consider plans for whether teams travel together or separately to reduce contact in large groups outside of the event. Should you need to book flights and accommodation, we ask that you book flexi-flights and check the cancellation policy of your accommodation provider. We will continue to provide support for clubs and regions to host local racing opportunities for those who can’t or choose not to travel to these national events. We will also continue to explore opportunities to unite the community over the coming weeks. Finally, thank you for your patience as we have worked through the lengthy process of re-designing these national events. We are really excited to have plans in place to deliver national events in the current Covid-19 Protection Framework. Whilst we acknowledge 2022 looks different to previous years, we want this to be a celebration of providing opportunities for our swimmers to participate and compete on the national stage. Please play your role and work with us to help keep our events as safe as possible. Can’t wait to see you lakeside and/or poolside! Nga mihi nui,