Swim Reservations Lifted at all CA Pools
Swimmers, get ready to welcome back some spontaneity into your routine! Effective June 16, reservations are no longer required for lap and recreational swimming at CA’s indoor and outdoor pools. The same goes for evening swims at our outdoor pools.
In short, you are free to arrive any time at our indoor and outdoor pools for recreation or leisure, just like you used to. Also, guest pass restrictions will not be required on the weekends (members are no longer limited to two guests per family).
These changes are being incorporated into updated pool schedules, which will be published early next week. Below, we’ll dive a little deeper into our rationale for these updates.
Why Lift Reservations?
The driving force behind this decision is the incredible progress we’ve made in terms of public health.
For the past year and a half, CA has been closely following local, state and national guidelines, with the safety of our members top of mind. Howard County currently has the best vaccine metrics in the state, with 70.3% residents fully vaccinated. Our COVID-19 positivity rate is at .8%, meaning our case rate is 1.8/1,000.
With these optimistic statistics comes the ability to safely lift our capacity limits — with the exception of Hobbit’s Glen Pool. To accommodate members who may not be ready for crowds, we will maintain a maximum capacity of 75 swimmers during recreational swim and senior swim. However, no reservations will be required.
There will be one more exception: Lanes 1-4 at Supreme Sports Club. These lanes will continue to operate with the reservation system, while lanes 5-8 will be open for drop-in swimming for 1fit Supreme and Fit & Play members. The reasoning behind this decision is that the Supreme Sports Club Pool has the largest pool with eight lanes, and has not experienced the same capacity issues as Columbia Gym and The Columbia Swim Center.
This lift of reservations will not apply to any of CA’s indoor and outdoor aqua fitness classes; these programs still require reservations and enforce capacity limits. The new policy applies only to lap and recreational swimming at CA’s indoor and outdoor pools (including hot tubs).
If you have any questions, you’re welcome to contact aquatics@columbiaassociation.org. Make sure to subscribe to our CA Swim email newsletter and follow us on Facebook to stay up to date on the latest.