Basking Ridge Swimmers On Fox News: New Jersey, Let Us Compete

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Two Ridge High School students who swim competitively are once again urging Gov. Phil Murphy to allow indoor pools to stay open. Andy Moss and Jerry Zheng spoke Tuesday on "Fox & Friends" to say they believe their sport can continue in a safe manner.

New Jersey will prohibit indoor youth and adult sports from next Monday until Jan. 2. The restriction, which Murphy announced at Monday's coronavirus briefing, exempts college and professional athletics.

Zheng and Moss — members of the Somerset Hills YMCA swim team — started a petition last spring for Murphy to allow competitive swimmers to return to the poll. The petition has more than 18,000 signatures.

Read more: Basking Ridge Swimmers Petition Gov. Murphy To Reopen Pools

Murphy lifted pool restrictions last summer but has since brought them back because of rising amounts of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations throughout New Jersey.

"We were definitely disappointed in the news," Moss told Fox News. "However, we know that the pandemic is super serious and especially given the rise in cases. It’s more important now than ever to take the guidelines and precautions seriously."

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Dawn Thomas, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Health, told Patch the following:

"We calculate a COVID-19 Activity Level Index (CALI) for regions in the state and post this weekly on our website. When the CALI score is 'orange' (high risk), we recommend to 'restrict activities that involve interaction with multiple cohorts.' This restriction would include those involved in activities such as sports that bring individuals together.

"We have seen outbreaks related to numerous youth sports — but it is not the number of outbreaks alone that guides our recommendation. It is the knowledge that it is not only the individual sport which may drive risk, but the mere bringing together of individuals. And this congregating of individuals does not only occur during the sporting event itself, but in the car pools, locker rooms, pre/post event get togethers, and other social events related to athletic events."

But Moss and Zheng both believe that swimmers can race safely. They sighted the Center for Disease Control, which said chlorine can kill the coronavirus within minutes.

Zheng and Moss also mentioned a recent survey from the New Jersey Swim Safety Alliance in which 44 facilities said zero infections were reported from their indoor pools. The swim alliance formed in June to lobby the state to reopen indoor pools.

"Our coaches and our organization has been working very hard to ensure that every swimmer and every athlete is safe during our practices and meets," Zheng said.

Zheng described their protocols, which include filling out a questionnaire on an app called TeamSnap, wearing a mask in the facility and getting a temperature check before entering the pool. They put their bags and equipment in a designated area, 6 feet apart from each other, he said.

They wear their masks until they race, removing them when they get to the blocks and putting it in a plastic back in a bin behind the blocks. Once the race is over, they put their masks back on.

"Many of us are looking forward to swimming in college, and we’re trying to get times that are crucial for the recruiting process," Zheng said. "This is a crucial part of our lives, and we are showing we will do anything to keep the sport going."

Watch the interview here.

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