Dear Governor Murphy, 

We, Jerry Zheng and Andy Moss, are high school sophomores on the Somerset Hills YMCA Swim Team from Basking Ridge, NJ that are eager to swim again. We are joined by many other competitive swimmers signing this petition who are ready to responsibly return to competitive training in our state's pools.

Our state's pools have been shut down for over two months and are still closed indefinitely. This needs to change. Across the state, thousands of talented swimmers have lost the feel for the water, which is essential for our sport. Once swimmers stop training for more than two weeks, they begin to lose their aerobic endurance and thus performance decreases dramatically as time goes on.

As science clearly demonstrates, chlorine does in fact kill the coronavirus and helps prevent the spread. On the CDC website it clearly states, “There is no evidence that the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas, or water play areas. Proper operation and maintenance (including disinfection with chlorine and bromine) of these facilities should inactivate the virus in the water.” https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/water.html

We do understand that we need to take safety precautions seriously as well as practice social distancing during our practices. Here is USA Swimming's Guidance to how this could safely work:  https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/usa-swimming-presents-clubs-with-safe-ways-to-return-to-practice Please trust the maturity of competitive athletes: we are focused and serious and responsible. If you grant us the privilege to return to swimming we will not disappoint you or the people of New Jersey. Perhaps swimming pools across the state used for training could be open for competitive swimmers to train until there is full public access.

We appreciate everything the government is doing to keep people safe, however the government should trust serious swimmers like us to return to the pools in a responsible way. Our mental and physical health depends on it.

Sincerely,

Jerry Zheng, Andy Moss and Competitive Swimmers that have Signed this Petition