Counties swimmers will not be able to compete at the Aon 2020 New Zealand Short Course Championships in Hamilton early next month.
The COVID-19 restrictions in the Auckland region has meant Swimming New Zealand has had to take the unprecedented step of banning athletes from the region taking part in the national championship.
A statement by the governing body was distributed Thursday confirming the move.
“Swimming New Zealand is extremely disappointed that we have been forced to make the difficult decision to not permit swimmers from within the Auckland City boundary (the Auckland and Counties swimming regions) to compete at the Aon 2020 NZ Short Course Championships, whilst the Auckland region remains in Level 2 restrictions,” the statement read.
“We had originally received approval last week for the Event Management Plan to host the event with Aucklanders attending safely, housed outside in multiple marquees of up to 100 each. However, this week, the Hamilton City Council has adjusted its interpretation of the Level 2 restrictions for Aucklanders and is now restricting the total number of Aucklanders allowed on-site to 100 per session. (There are currently 213 Auckland swimmers entered plus coaches and managers, so close to 300 Aucklanders in total). We have considered all possible options to continue hosting the event with Aucklanders competing, but given the stringent restrictions now put in place, this is no longer possible. Therefore, Auckland swimmers will no longer be able to compete at the event while Auckland is under a Level 2 restriction.
“With the government updating Auckland’s Alert Level on Monday 5 October and the likelihood that Auckland’s Level restriction will drop to Level 1 at 11.59 pm on Wednesday 7 October, Aucklanders will be welcome to compete in the events they have entered in from Thursday onwards should the Alert Level drop to Level 1.”
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