ACA Update on COVID-19 – May 1, 2020

ACA Update on COVID-19

May 1, 2020

For ACA members, spring is generally a busy season.  Members are on the water, enjoying warmer temperatures.  Instructors are certified and  updated as they prepare for summer teaching. This year, our elite athletes were training hard, hoping to compete in the Tokyo Olympics and other international competitions. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has changed all of our schedules and plans. Instead of paddling, many ACA members, like many others in the paddling community, are at home practicing social distancing.

ACA’s response to the COVID-19 crisis has been based on our longstanding policy of “education, not regulation.” As an organization, ACA must make decisions about ACA sponsored events. For our members, we want to share accurate information that helps members make well-informed decisions. To that end, we’ve recommended that our members follow guidance from medical professionals and public health experts from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and local health departments. We’ve further sought out guidance specific to paddling from medical professionals and recently formed a medical advisory panel to help guide ACA’s Board of Directors. Researchers continue to learn how to best respond to this crisis but it’s clear the situation remains volatile and uncertain.

Based on what we know now, what the CDC recommends, and on the guidance provided by medical professionals, we will continue to cancel or postpone ACA sponsored events such as team trials until at least June 15th. Public health guidelines vary across the country, but there are clear general guidelines we can follow if we choose to paddle.

• If you’re sick, stay home and contact your doctor for care
• If you’re exposed to someone with COVID-19, follow your doctor’s guidance on the proper duration for a quarantine
• Avoid groups of more than ten people
• Maintain at least six feet of separation between people at all times.  That may make shuttle and transportation, rafting, and tandem paddling challenging.  Flat water paddling, park and play, and attainments are good options. Walking or bike shuttles are also options
• Maintain strict hygiene – wash your hands frequently, don’t share food or water containers, and frequently clean surfaces you touch
• Minimize travel time and distance, and be sure to follow state and local rules for quarantine and isolation if you do travel
• Paddle well below your skill level to reduce the risk of injury and need for rescue
• Respect the communities in which we paddle – be sure to not do anything that might stress local healthcare resources. Make sure we’ll be welcome when this crisis resolves

For instructors, and especially instructors teaching for pay, this is a particularly challenging time. ACA leadership is working on a list of practices to help guide instructors as they eventually return to face-to-face teaching.

Some things can easily be taught while maintaining distance. A number of instructors are working on ways to teach through different technology platforms.ACA strongly supports these efforts to provide boating education during these challenging times. However, on water skills training always has the potential to need hands-on rescue, increasing the risk of disease transmission between course participants.

COVID-19 has created changes in our daily life. More changes are likely.  However, it can’t change something most people reading this believe – paddling is fun, and paddling is an important, even vital, part of our lives.  ACA’s leadership team will do everything we can to support fun, safe paddling for the entire ACA family (and if you’re reading this, then you’re a part of that family), and the overall paddling community.

COVID & Responsible Paddling Infographic (PDF / Image File)