Swimming competitions in the era of COVID-19: Lessons from successfully hosting the International Swimming League

Autor: Gábor A. Fülöp, Álmos Gógl, Bálint Lakatos, Nóra Sydó, Emese Csulak, Bianka Mester, Szabolcs Tóth, Árpád Petrov, Vivien Klaudia Nagy, Gergo Merkely, Béla Merkely
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Physiology International.
ISSN: 2677-0164
2498-602X
Popis: BackgroundOrganization of mass sport events in the COVID-19 era is utterly complicated. Containments measures, required to avoid a virus outbreak, force athletes to compete under circumstances they never experienced before, most likely having a deleterious effect on their performance.PurposeWe aimed to design a so-called athlete-friendly bubble system for the International Swimming League 2020 event, which is strict enough to avoid a COVID-19 outbreak, but still provides a supportive environment for the athletes.MethodsTo avoid the feeling of imprisonment, athletes were permitted to spend a certain amount of time in the parks surrounding the hotels. Such alleviations were possible to apply with strict adherence to the hygienic and social distancing protocols and regular COVID-19 testing. Evaluation of every COVID-19 positive case was key, and if prolonged PCR positivity or false positive PCR result was identified, the unnecessary quarantine was planned to be lifted. Return to play protocol (RTP) was planned, in case of a COVID-19 infection of an athlete inside the bubble. To test, if the athlete-friendly system provided a supportive environment, we evaluated athlete performance.Results11,480 PCR tests were performed for 1,421 individuals. 63 COVID-19 positive cases were detected, of which 5 turned out to be clinically insignificant, either because of prolonged PCR positivity or because of a false positive result. 93.1% of the positive cases were detected in the local crew, while no athlete got infected inside the bubble, as the two infected athletes were tested positive upon arrival. RTP was provided for two athletes. 85% of the athletes showed improvement during the bubble and 8 world records were broken.ConclusionThe applied protocol proved to be effective, as no athlete got infected inside the bubble, moreover, the athlete-friendly system supported the athletes to improve their performance.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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