Kenya Swimming Federation (KSF) chairman, Patrick Muyah, has said they intend to put in a strong case to have the sport resume its activities after the Ministry of Sports branded the discipline a high risk.
Muyah said they are looking at having controlled training immediately with competition set to start in January. "In our document, we want to have controlled training under the current Covid-19 protocols before starting competitions in the new year," he said.
Muyah explained that in a controlled environment, it's very easy to monitor swimmers. "It's something which can easily be handled and we can follow the swimmers as well as have hand sanitisers and thermo guns to test them,” he added.
The KSF boss said when competition resumes, there will be no spectators at venues and they will ensure all protocols are strictly followed.
In the report released on Monday by sports ministry, swimming is among the disciplines categorised as risky and its resumption is set to take a bit longer since pools and aquatic venues will remain closed.
Muyah said the coronavirus can’t withstand the chemicals used to purify swimming pools, adding that competitions in countries like United States are ongoing with stringent measures in place.
He wondered why swimming is considered high risk yet in Europe and other countries where the virus has taken toll, are already back in action.
"If we look at other countries, swimming competitions are going on with the strict protocols in place. A case in point is Israel who had a competition over the weekend. We are, therefore, pleading with the Ministry of Sports to have us resume our activities,” he observed.
Muyah added that the world governing body, FINA has already released protocols to all their affiliates to be used when the sport resumes. Sports federations and stakeholders have been given seven days to give their input to the ministry after the guidelines were released.
Some of the non-contact sports set for reopening are athletics, volleyball, cricket, bowling, weightlifting, cycling, table tennis, lawn tennis, shooting and golf.