Greetings Gators,

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We hope this email finds you well. While we are all surprised at how quickly government regulations changed to allow beaches and pools to open, we want to give you an update on the state of Nottingham Swim Club and its potential for opening.

 

First and foremost, our concern is the health, safety, and welfare of our members and employees – many of whom are our community’s children.  We will keep this in mind at all times when evaluating the opening and operation of the pool.  Understandably, the State’s regulations are strict as they outline the following:

 

- Rigid cleaning schedules & procedures

- Monitoring employee health

- Distancing of members

- Limiting capacity of pool and its grounds

- Not allowing swim teams

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As you know from our recent updates, your pool board has been meeting frequently to assess COVID-19 restrictions and, now, the new opening regulations in depth. With this new allowance to open pools based on the State standards, we are unanimous in determining that we cannot yet welcome members in a safe and meaningful way. While we have been prepping the pool and its pumps since mid-April, and will continue to do so to get ready for another season, several factors prevent our safe opening at this time. These include, but are not limited to, the safety of staff and our members, availability of necessary cleaning materials, access to safety equipment & training for staff, and equitably managing a limited capacity.

  

To prepare for a safe opening, we will continuously monitor the regulations and any changes, work to establish new procedures to meet State requirements, and stock up on necessary supplies.  We will be making the next assessment in two weeks.  Once we are confident that we can safely schedule an opening date, we will likely reach out for members’ help since we were unable to host our regular clean-up day earlier this month.

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Although this delay comes as a disappointment to us all, it is in line with our initial COVID-19 email to our members – we are still proceeding under the most conservative health and safety guidelines to protect the well-being of our staff and members.  Please know that we will always keep this at the forefront of our decisions for the pool & its membership.

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With the unofficial start of summer almost upon us, we all want some fun at the pool! Let’s band together as a Gator Nation and join in some fun events planned for Nottingham over the next several weeks.

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• Chalk a Gator’s Driveway (5/17, Sunday through 5/25, Memorial Day): Chalk a fellow member’s driveway or sidewalk to share Gator Spirit for our summers at the Swamp.

• Gator Nation Parade (next Sunday 5/24 @4pm): Decorate your car in Green and Gold and line up at the pool, where you will be (socially distanced) greeted by your Board, staff, & mascot. Then continue on the 2-mile Swamp Swim & Sprint Route through Nottingham & Oaklands neighborhoods to raise spirit for the summer at Nottingham.

• Food Truck Fridays Return! (May 29th): Visit the pool parking lot from 5:30-8:30pm for a tasty Friday night dinner take-away-style while supporting a local business. May 29th will include a canned food drive to support the Food Bank of DE. Canned goods can be dropped off in the containers next to the Food Truck. Stay tuned for specifics on each Food Truck’s ordering process to maintain social distancing and the full summer calendar planned for Food Trucks at NSC!

 

We hope to see you at these fun events to build our sense of pool community until we can safely open our beloved pool!