Dear GMST families,

Hard to believe we have only 3 weeks remaining of our season. Time flies, even during a pandemic. Our remaining 3 weeks will consist of 2 virtual meets at Green Meadow pool – Thursday, July 9 and Thursday, July 16 - and if all goes as planned, a Tuesday, July 21 season ending meet with our swimming friends, the Maryville-Alcoa Flying Dolphins at Springbrook pool.

As case count inevitably rises, we take a moment to thank and encourage everyone to continue exercising necessary and diligent measures, with even more gusto than at the beginning of our season. By daily practicing these measures, we will further ensure a high level of safety for swimmers and 3 meets during the next 3 weeks, especially the season ending meet.

As a precautionary measure, please remember to ask your swimmer the following 5 questions before leaving the car:

• Have you been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the past 14 days?
• Are you experiencing a cough, shortness of breath or sore throat?
• Have you had a fever in the last 48 hours?
• Have you had new loss of taste or smell?
• Have you had vomiting or diarrhea in the last 24 hours?

If the answer is “yes” to any one of these questions, your swimmer is not able to practice until he/she can once again answer “yes” to all 5 questions.

For CDC guidance regarding answering “yes” to one of the entry questions, please visit the following CDC link, animated videos included:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/end-home-isolation.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fprevent-getting-sick%2Fwhen-its-safe.html.

To further ensure safety for our children and coaches, we request that if a swimmer receives a positive test result, the family removes the child from swimming and notifies Eric Bellah and/or Millie Hodge. Eric and Millie will honor confidentiality and, while maintaining confidentiality, determine with the GMST Board the necessary next steps.

Other Reminders: Please remember to register for the Village Green meet by tomorrow at 5:00pm on Swimtopia. Please remember to register to volunteer for the meets. We must have all positions filled to have the meets.

If you have questions, please contact Eric Bellah at [email protected] or Millie Hodge at [email protected].

Appreciate you,

2020 GMST Board