Too little, too late: After much delay, Maharashtra opens pools for fully vaccinated athletes

A swimmer practises at the Andheri Sports Complex in December, 2019. File pic

The Maharashtra government on Friday allowed fully vaccinated swimmers to practise in pools for competitive events, a day after a dejected Swimming Association of Maharashtra decided to have trials in Gujarat. However, the association said the move will benefit only about 10 per cent of swimmers as most such athletes are below 18 years of age who are ineligible for vaccination. It will therefore stick to its plan of practising in Ahmedabad.

In a press briefing in Pune, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that swimmers who have completed their vaccination and the 14-day cooling period will be allowed to enter pools across the state for competitive reasons. Coaches said this could have come much earlier.

In a series of reports, mid-day has reported the plight of professional swimmers who want to compete in the National Aquatic Championship 2021, which will be held in Bengaluru in October. When their pleas to the state government fell on deaf ears, the Swimming Association of Maharashtra (SAM) said it would hold trials for the nationals in a private pool in Gujarat on September 23. Its desperate decision had shocked swimming enthusiasts who questioned the inaction on the part of the state authorities.

Also read: Private pool in Ahmedabad bails out national swimmers from Maharashtra

The National Aquatic Championship 2021 will be held in Bengaluru next month

Pawar, who is also the president of the Maharashtra Olympic Association, said, "I heard the plight of professional swimmers and their demand to practise for nationals. We have given them the permission to practise, but only for those who have completed vaccination." Despite the fact that the swimmers are racing against time, no official circular was issued following Pawar's announcement till late in the evening.

The relief will only benefit a handful of swimmers as most competitors are under 18 and no vaccine has been cleared for this age group in India. "Since morning, there were a lot of discussions about our decision to hold trials in Gujarat and some officials said there will be some solution to this. But the [Pawar's] announcement has disappointed us. There are a few swimmers who must have completed vaccination but a major chunk of swimmers fall below 18 years from all junior, sub-junior and senior categories," said a SAM official.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar

What stopped the government from taking the step earlier, wondered coaches. "This is a welcome decision, but [SAM] officials were demanding relief for all the swimmers, that too from April 2021 since the pools were shut down. But no provisions, SOPs were formed. Swimmers older than 18 years can get vaccinated, but the government should have thought of some way out for younger swimmers," said Amit Temkar, who coaches swimmers for competitions.

SAM president Deepak Mejari told mid-day, "We welcome the announcement made by the deputy CM but it won't benefit the majority of swimmers. If the government allows usage of pools for all, then we can think about changing the trial location but as of now we are going ahead with our Gujarat plans."

Age group
>> Sub-junior - 9 to 11 years
>> Junior - 12 to 17 years
>> Senior - open to all (depends on qualifying time)

Sept 27-29
Trials in Ahmedabad for Maha swimmers for junior categories