Oroville Orcas return to the water with new health guidelines

After months of time off due to coronavirus, the Oroville Orcas were allowed back in the water as long as they abide by new health guidelines

The oroville orcas youth swim team is back in the water after months of time off due to the coronavirus.

Action news now sports reporter brandon benitez joins us with how they made it happen.

Orcas swim coach alyssa tomlinson wasn't sure if she would get the chance to coach to her youth team... thanks to some careful preparation -- her orcas returned just in time to beat the summer heat... sounds of splashing water couldn't have come at a better time.

Once butte county entered phase three of re-opening -- oroville orcas swim coach alyssa tomlinson went to work... we had reached out to feather river parks and rec which is who owns the pool and who allows us to rent the pool from them.

From there we received the local okay and the state okay to open as long as we were following state, local and usa swimming guidelines guidelines that include temperature checks for everyone, social distancing between swimmers, and lists of health precautions given to every parent to make sure their little orca is safe... we're really excited to be able to allow the normalcy for the children.

I know, i'm sure this has been a hard time for them and so to allow some of these kids to come back into the pool and although we are social distancing, they're still seeing their friends being socially distant so i think it's really important for them and their mental well-being.

Tomlinson cut her usual participant size to accomodate social distancing... we had about 76 swimmers and this year we had to cap it at 40 but hopefully as time goes on we'll be able to allow for more swimmers... the c-d-c says that -- as long as swimming pools are properly maintained -- the chlorine in the water should "inactivate" coronavirus, which would prevent the virus from spreading... there's also no evidence that coronavirus spreads to people through the water in pools... and education is all part of the process... tomlinson stressed to me that she's taking all the precautions necessary to stay safe... i'm brandon benitez alan back to you...