When (and if) girls’ swimming and diving meets happen this fall, they will have a different look than in the past, Newtown Coach Becky Osborne said.

Sure, designated lanes keep some consistent distance between swimmers, but pool decks are traditionally jammed pretty much wall to wall with team members, coaches, officials, and score keepers. With coronavirus-caused social distancing restrictions, there will have to be changes, and Osborne noted that an idea being considered is for each school to compete in its home pool and share scores with opposing schools to determine the outcome of meets.

“Head to head competition is preferable for the swimmers. You have that person next to you, you see them in the lane, you have someone to push you,” Osborne points out.

But this is not realistic under the circumstances, Osborne said. A team must have a minimum of 16 swimmers, plus divers, and that is with team members swimming each event; teams with more swimmers (often 30 or more) use their depth to their advantage, as well as to provide more opportunities.

As the anticipated, pushed-back start of the regular season approaches, the Nighthawks have had to prepare in ways that differ, with the team split into two groups, each practicing for an hour and coaches using a microphone and public address system to communicate while wearing masks. The swimmers have yet to use the blocks, and relay teams have not practiced together. Groups are not split by skill but based on school session cohorts. As of the middle of September, the team captains, Payton Bradley and Caroline Mahoney, had yet to be at the same practice session. Osborne is accustomed to two-and-a-half-hour practices each day, not hourlong sessions for each swimmer, just twice a week. Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference plans are for teams to engage in full-length practices in late September, assuming all goes well with coronavirus metrics.

“It’s a new monkey wrench to coaching that I haven’t had to deal with before,” said Osborne, adding that amid all of the changes this year, she and Assistant Coach Lisa Irving came up with the team motto, “Go With The Flow.”

Newtown is scheduled to open on the road against Pomperaug of Southbury on Friday, October 2, at 4:30 pm, but the Nighthawks may very well be home for that meet in more of a competitive practice-type setting. Under the circumstances, that is what they can hope for.

“Any type of competition will be welcome. We just want to make sure everybody stays safe,” Osborne said.