Southern Zone Athlete Rep's Ask Peers to Wear Masks, Social Distance
Southern Zone Athlete Rep's Ask Peers to Wear Masks, Social Distance
Annie Norris and Ryan Gibbons, the two athlete representatives for the Southern Zone of USA Swimming, have released a letter imploring their fellow swimmers to practice social distancing, wear masks, and follow health guidelines provided by government agencies.
As battles rage, both online and in public spaces, about the efficacy of masks or the legality of requiring them, cases in the states represented by the Southern Zone LSC have exploded over the last 6 weeks as those states have begun aggressive reopening campaigns.
The Southern Zone is one of 4 zones in USA Swimming, and it represents 15 Local Swimming Committees (LSCs). Those LSCs include the states of Texas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
Florida and Texas, two states that fared relatively-well through the early weeks of the pandemic, now rank 3rd and 4th, respectively, among US states in terms of most positive tests for coronavirus. Relative to population, Florida ranks 13th and Texas 24th, though both are climbing in those rankings. Texas has rolled back some of its rules and begun instituting mandatory mask rules, though many local sheriffs have declared that they won’t enforce those rules. Florida, meanwhile, has held fast in its refusal to roll back regulations or require masks, though some local municipalities have begun to do so.
Texas is averaging almost 7,500 new positive tests daily over the last week, while Florida is averaging almost 8,800. Data shows that much of the spread has been in younger people, in their 20s and 30s.
Most of the states in the zone, like most of the states in the US, have seen a recent increase. While most are not as dramatic as the rises in Texas and Florida, South Carolina has seen numbers of new daily positive tests increase more than 7-times the rate they were at the beginning of June.
In swimming, the Southern Zone had the widest-spread return to the pool the earliest in the pandemic, meaning that teams from this zone have been back in the water the longest and with the most capacity, on average, of USA Swimming’s four zones.
Norris, a current swimmer at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, is originally from Houston; Gibbons is expected to start his college career at Division III Emory University in the fall. He is from Winter Springs, Florida, near Orlando.
Norris is a former member of the USA Swimming Open Water National Committee. Gibbons is also a member of the USA Swimming Safe Sport Committee and Athlete Leadership Sub-Committee.
