2020 Season Cancelled

Dear Cool Dell Families

It is with sincere sadness that we announce the cancellation of the 2020 C-Dragon Swim Team Season. In light of the prevalence of the virus in St. Louis County and the social distancing guidelines required to keep our children and families safe, Gateway Swim League voted in favor of cancelling the season. In a separate vote, the League voted to allow this year’s high school seniors to swim as 19 year olds next season. This is a big silver lining for us because Cool Dell has a fantastic group of seniors this year that we are not ready to say goodbye to without a proper last season. There has been no official word on the Dive Team yet. We will keep you posted.

Our parent rep, Melissa Matheny, and other parent reps throughout the Gateway League worked tirelessly to try to make this swim season happen. They worked through many proposed scenarios for a delayed season, meet modifications and practice changes. However, there are too many barriers that make swim team virtually impossible this summer. Here are just a few:

• USA swimming has set strict reopening guidelines for swim practices with scenarios allowing only 12-27 swimmers in the pool at once. This would require us to limit each swimmer’s practice time and frequency in what would likely be an already shortened season. It would also make warm-ups before meets an impossibility.
• Our younger swimmers require hands-on instruction for safety and to work on body position/stroke technique. Social distancing guidelines prohibit this type of instruction.
• With a team as large as ours, there is no way to ensure social distancing during swim meets, even if we limit the amount of spectators. As I imagine the crowds in the bullpens and behind the blocks necessary for lane loading, timing and relays, I realize that this is simply not safe for our swimmers or volunteers.
• Many of our parent reps were holding out hope for a later swim season, but some schools in the area have been discussing starting the school year early in anticipation of a second wave of the virus this winter. Late summer is also a popular time for family vacations, and we would have many families absent for a large part of the season.
• Finally, the safety and health of our children and families are first and foremost. Cool Dell Swim Team is the highlight of the summer for my family, and this news is a devastating blow for my swimmers who are VERY eager to get back in the water. However, we hope this decision ensures that next year every swimmer, parent and grandparent is able to gather and celebrate another fast and fun C-Dragon season.

Full refunds will be issued via PayPal for the families who have registered and paid. Please contact our Treasurer, Abby Sapp, at cdswimtreasurer@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding refunds.

We hope to see you at the pool as soon as we can gather!

Katie Shaffer

Cool Dell Swim Team Communications Chair