After Cobb commissioners got an e-mail deluge from high school swimmers and their parents over the weekend about capacity limits at aquatic centers, Chairwoman Lisa Cupid isn’t budging from restrictions designed to combat a COVID-19 surge.
Cupid issued a statement Monday saying that capacity limits at indoor county facilities include the county-run aquatic centers, and that they are necessary.
“As the mother of student-athletes, I understand the frustration from not being able to watch your children compete,” Cupid said in the statement.
“However, public health leaders have impressed upon me now is not the time to have large groups gathering together in confined spaces during this record COVID surge. Our local hospitals are nearing a breaking point, and our staff has been severely impacted due to rising cases in the county.”
Charles Barry, a junior swimmer at Walton High School, began an online petition drive over the weekend to protest the capacity limits, and his campaign is approaching nearly 2,000 signatures.
Cobb high school swimming meets regularly take place at two county-owned aquatic centers that are rented by the Cobb County School District for those events.
The restrictions were to limit total capacity to 100 people, but increases were allowed for meets over the weekend.
According to county spokesman Ross Cavitt, the largest, Mountain View, was limited to 160 people, and a maximum of 125 people were allowed at the Central Aquatic Center in Marietta.
Cupid declared a state of emergency on Dec. 22 to run through Jan. 21. That includes a mask mandate at indoor county facilities and social-distancing limits, but Cavitt said the aquatic center capacity restrictions “are not directly tied to the emergency declaration.”
In a message Sunday to East Cobb News, Barry said that “multiple people are in full support of removing the capacity limits and think that they are ridiculous and put swimmers at a disadvantage.”
He said the swim teams only found out on Thursday about the limits, which he said don’t affect practices but are “dramatically affecting meets.
“The meets are limited in capacity which causes people to sit outside in the freezing cold during meets, or separate the meets by boys and girls, or even have coaches cut the amount of swimmers,” Barry said.
He added that Walton’s combined boys and girls team includes around 100 swimmers. “It is absurd that they are limiting this because it is causing our meets to not run normally and not run how they should be.”
The Cobb County varsity and junior varsity swimming championships will be contested Jan. 20-21 at the Mountain View and Central aquatic centers.
Cupid said in her statement that the county parks director “has been in contact with Cobb school athletic directors who assured him they will be able to continue holding swim meets with the social distancing requirements in place.”
In the same statement, Cobb County Manager Jackie McMorris said that “while it’s a difficult time for everyone . . . proper social distancing and reducing the number of people inside confined facilities at these events will enable us to keep the facilities’ doors open.”
A parent signing the petition complained her son, a senior swimmer, “was already cheated out a normal junior year season with all the mandates and no spectators in 2020-2021 and now he is being cheated out of having a complete normal senior season.
“He is a team captain and being a full team is what drives these kids’ spirit. Let these kids finish their season strong!”
Related posts:
- Cobb government to issue 60K in-home COVID-19 tests
- Cobb and Douglas Public Health opens more COVID-19 test sites
- Cobb jury trials paused in Cobb through Jan. 21
- Cobb issues emergency declaration through Jan. 22
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