Swimming pools to reopen for athletes, club training

Water sports in swimming pools will now be allowed for non-contact training starting June 25 said Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“Swimming practice activities, including underwater diving and platform diving, is now allowed at swimming pools following a set schedule and with a limited number of people in each session depending on the capacity of the pool,” he said in his press conference today.

This is only for national and state athletes, club swimmers, those in swimming academies for certain programmes, as well as participants in graded training programmes such as “learn to swim” programmes, he said.

The athletes or swimmers will have to comply with all the standard operating procedures (SOP) for sports and recreational activities, he said.

This includes registering for the MySejahtera app, social distancing of three to five metres during training in the swimming pool, leaving the premises or training area as soon as possible after training, doing swimming activities in a standard pool for training and competitions and making sure the users clean themselves before using the pool.

Meanwhile, the pool operators also have their own set of SOP to comply with, Ismail (photo) said.

This includes controlling the number of swimmers in the pool and in the shower and changing rooms as well as to test the chlorine level in the pool every two hours during operating hours to ensure the chlorine level is optimal according to standards set by the authorities.

The operators, he said, must also register the notification of reopening their pools with the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) at the notification.miti.gov.my website for monitoring purposes.

Meanwhile, for swimming pools such as those in hotels or in gated communities and condominiums, the government has agreed in principle to reopen those pools as well.

However, he said, the SOP for these swimming pools would have to be tabled first before they can approve it fully.

Ismail also said the open spaces in shopping malls are now allowed to hold sale promotion activities.

In the wake of some confusion over the lifted restrictions for the number of people per table at restaurants, he clarified that social distancing must still be adhered to.

He had announced yesterday that Putrajaya has lifted the “maximum four-per-table” rule for members of the public who dine at restaurants.

Today, he explained that for example, a family of six who goes to a restaurant to dine in can now sit at the same table, as long as social distancing with other tables is still adhered to.- Mkini