It’s been a long time since the swimmers on the Sedona Race Pace Swim Club were able to go in the water. For most of them, the last competitive meet came in early-March or even late-February, before pools were closed for the COVID-19 pandemic. That wait, though, is coming to an end.
On Monday, June 8, the club will return to the water as practices begin again.
“I am so excited to get back in the water, I love swimming and it felt like a piece of me was gone when I was away from the pool,” said Lucy Spielman, a swimmer on the team who’s last practice in the water came on March 13. “I am so happy to be able to see my teammates and coaches again.”
For the most part, the swimmers partook in dryland exercises via Zoom with their coaches. There were exceptions, though.
Bryce Kirk, along with teammates Renae Porteous and Sarina McCullough, went to Kirk’s grandmother’s house in Anthem and swam in the lap pool in her backyard. They even got creative in simulating what their normal pools are like, laying a hose at the bottom of the pool to make a lane line and hanging a line with pink duct tape over the pool to create makeshift backstroke flags. Collectively, Kirk’s mother, Brook Fulton, labeled the three the “quaranteens.”
Kirk noted that he realizes how lucky he was to have that, with public pools being shut down for such a long period of time.
“Of course, I think about that every day I swim,” he said. “I’m so grateful.
If you stop swimming, it’s really hard to start again.”
“It’s going to be different but better now that we’re back in the pool,” Kirk added.
While swimming in Anthem did allow the trio to keep their muscles sharp, it had two notable disadvantages.
The pool was not 25 yards or 25 meters, the distances the swimmers are used to swimming in competition.
And more significantly, since the teens were down there during quarantine, they were separated from their families for the entire time.
“It’s exciting for us, Bryce finally coming back after being away for eight weeks,” Fulton said. “It gave them a unique opportunity to bond as teammates on a level that they wouldn’t normally. But as a mom, I’m glad that he’s back.”
Being a part of a small team does create some advantages for the Sedona Race Pace swimmers. Being small in numbers and training on different intervals helps them stay socially distanced from each other. Still, they are looking for more members to join before the upcoming season.
Of course, as excited as the swimmers are to get back in the pool and reunite with their teammates, they do also lament the races that they were not able to swim at the end of the short course season. Though even in that disappointment, Spielman found a positive.
“Though I am disappointed that state has been canceled, this spring has taught me not to take anything for granted,” Spielman said. “I am very grateful to be able to get back in the water with my team.”
