EOSC Offenbach: “I see older people break down”

• fromFrank Hellmann

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The new lockdown threatens the swimming clubs to dig the water, warns Matthias Wörner, President of the EOSC Offenbach. That would be worst for children and the elderly.

It is an inconspicuous color photo, already slightly yellowed, but with the original signature, that hangs in the entrance area of ​​the Rosenhöhe forest swimming pool. Everyone at EOSC Offenbach knows the portrait: Michael Groß, Olympic champion from 1984, who is still one of the greatest German sports heroes today. The “Albatros” has not jumped into the water for any other club, says Matthias Wörner, the first chairman, not without pride. He too was once a competitive swimmer – and trained with Groß. “I only ever saw his feet in the pool.” Wörner, 57, has been running a club for a decade that also offers water polo, basketball, tennis and triathlon, but swimming is the core sport.

In this department, 1,600 of the roughly 2,500 members are gathered – from competitive swimmers who swim their laps in the 50-meter pool every day to recreational athletes who only glide leisurely once a week. For the time being it is all over for all of them. The almost collective ban beam for amateur sport digs the swimming clubs off the water in the truest sense of the word. Wörner’s soul hurts because of two groups: children and pensioners. “We had just recaptured our talents after the first lockdown,” he says. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to imagine what will happen: “Many will now sit down at the game console again until four at night, will discover Netflix and Disney Plus – and find that better than coming out of the pool with tired arms.”

Collective ban

There have been no competitions for the youth since March, even the talented youth inevitably fall into the motivation hole at some point. And now there is the training ban. Wörner, who lives in Hanau, has no illusions: “We are going to lose children.” The lack of exercise in the young is one problem, the ban on exercise for the elderly is another. “We definitely have 60, 70 older regular guests who come every day to the second. For them, the swimming lesson is more than just a ritual: for many physically frail people it is the only activity and an important meeting place. ”Without this sport offer, for which there is no alternative for certain health conditions, he would have these people“ physically ”in the spring and mentally collapse ”.

During the weeks of shutdown of the swimming pool, the association did not dismantle the air dome above the main pool in the summer, which then had the advantage of being able to regulate the access very precisely. An electronic booking system was introduced to ensure the tracking of bathers; with three-hour slots and access for up to 500 people.

Even if, to Wörner’s chagrin, the association initially had to hire a guard to comply with the mask requirement, the hygiene concept took effect. The EOSC is not aware of any case that can be traced back to an infection in the swimming pool, although Offenbach had to struggle with rising corona incidences very early on. In the end, the procedure in the bathroom had worked well with the tightened regulations: the swimming guests had already put on their swimwear, then put their things (and mask) in a rectangle drawn on the edge of the pool, went into the water, then dried themselves off and changed – they took a shower at home.

Chlorine against corona

And yet Wörner can partially understand the closure of swimming pools. “If the kids get together at the entrance before a training lesson, pictures emerge that not everyone likes.” Nonetheless, there is no risk of infection in chlorinated water.

Wörner finds it curious that the forest swimming pool is now being kept open by the club that operates school sports. So it will continue to be heated. After all: EOSC Offenbach does not get into financial difficulties because of this. The city of Offenbach pays for the shortfall in operating costs, which can amount to 200,000 euros a year.

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