The doors are open and training has returned at the Manning Aquatic Centre, as COVID-19 restrictions were eased on Monday.
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Both the indoor and outdoor pools are in operation at the centre, with swimmers required to follow all requirements set down by the NSW Government, including being fully vaccinated.
It's been quite a while since the pool shut its doors and the swim club has been unable to operate for a while, but coach Josh Stapley is excited things are returning to normal.
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"It's been a long time. We've been waiting for it and I think as much as you can continue through lockdown online, it's not quite the same," he said.
"On Monday afternoon, we had our first session back. We had a massive turnout, over 30 for our senior squad group, which is the highest we've ever had.
"It was great to see everyone eager to get back to it. And not just for training, but just being able to see them all interacting with each other."
While club members can return to training, Stapley said it may be a while before carnivals return, with work being made for Bathurst's one later this year.
"They are able to start at 80 per cent," he said.
"We're hoping that will come through, with a couple of carnivals scheduled out in the Central West.
"I know Dubbo have a couple in the next month or so that they had scheduled. We're hoping they'll still be able to go ahead, as we're likely to hit that 80 per cent target next week.
"The Bathurst club is starting to organise its carnival for later on in the year. It's certainly going to be tricky to organise it all around the restrictions but we've been through it before. We had restrictions around sporting events last year and we came out of lockdown and everyone was able to manage some really successful carnivals.
"The hardest challenge will be the vaccination requirements and just being around them."
Stapley was thankful for all the work certain stakeholders have done to get swimming back up and running again.
"I know Swimming Australia, Swimming NSW and other stakeholders have been working hard to get things moving along in all areas," he said.
"It was great to see they were able to have a bit of push with government to get swimming lessons up and running, which is really important with the amount of swimming that we do.
"To have those swimming lessons starting back up is going to be invaluable for everyone."
The Manning Aquatic Centre is open every day from 6am-8pm.
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