Coronavirus has affected many things such as companies, schools, and sports. For most students, sports is the biggest change in their lives because of trying to get scholarships, just wanting to work out, and get better.

Personally, my swim practice has changed a lot from when Coronavirus first hit to now. It used to be first come first serve for which lane you’re practicing in, but now we have assigned lanes and only 4 people per lane, 2 on each end. Obviously, we have to wear a mask while entering and exiting the pool, and we have to park with one spot in between each car. There are also separate high school groups, one comes every weekday, and the other only comes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, both groups are separated by what time practice starts.

I interviewed my friends, Kendall Mills and Genna Davenport, who I swim with, and Kendall says, “I like the changes because I can no longer be pushed in the pool and the lanes aren’t as crowded. However, I don’t like wearing my mask after swimming.” While Genna said, “I don’t like the changes at all, I find it harder to socialize with my teammates and it limits the amount of people per group that can swim on the team, so people who want to sign up for the team can’t, but I do like that there aren’t as many people per lane.”

I also interviewed my coach, who says, “Absolutely not thrilled at all about the group itself being split up! The social aspect of a team is broken, some of you don’t even know each other at all, camaraderie diminishes, etc.  The 4 people per lane is do-able, just annoying to have limits. Assigning spots and inability to move y’all within practice is extremely difficult and poses some performance risks. For the kids, y’all are more safe, but at a cost. As a business, it presents challenges that can and have put many teams out of business, we are ok, but many have had to end.”

In conclusion, many sports practices are different now because of Coronavirus, and not just mine. It is affecting many peoples lives with putting teams out of business, because not only does it leave people without a job, but kids without a team.