What Can You Expect In The Venues At The Tokyo Olympics?
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
The Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee still has not yet decided on the number of domestic-only spectators to be allowed at the Olympic venues between July 23rd and August 8th.
That leaves millions (around 7 million) ticket holders wondering when and who will be allowed in the venues.
“We know of at least one channel swimmer who will be allowed inside the venues besides the 25 men and 25 women who will compete in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo Bay,” said Steven Munatones. “The first Japanese English Channel swimmer Teruko Onuki, who also competed on the professional marathon swimming circuit, will be a FINA Technical Official for the marathon swim.
She is bilingual and was nominated for the 2018 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year, “Teruko Onuki was the fast competitive swimmer in her teenage years. Then she became the first Japanese to swim the English Channel – without GPS and without a techsuit – in 1982 in 9 hours 32 minutes. She parlayed that success to a lifetime of coaching, teaching, inspiring and writing about open water swimming. She has written 10 books on open water swimming and shares her advice and thoughts on swimming on television and in the Japanese media. She created a company called Unimchu – named for people whose livelihoods are centered in the ocean – that is her online and in-person platform for sharing her passion for ocean swimming and swimming long distances. She volunteers for FINA and the Japanese Swimming Federation as an open water swimming official and delegate, and assembles a number of successful swimmers, explorers and adventurers to augment her understanding of human potential both on dryland and in the open water. For taking and coaching Japanese marathon swimmers competing in events throughout Oceania and Asia, for conducting open water swimming camps and training sessions for swimmers of all ages and backgrounds, for leveraging her personal success in the English Channel to help expand the open water swimming community in Japan in a friendly, fun manner, Teruko Onuki of Japan is a worthy nominee for the 2018 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year.“
She founded and manages the Uminchu Club from her Tokyo headquarters in addition to serving as a FINA official and delegate, and coaches Japanese swimmers in the 19.7 km Rottnest Channel in Western Australia, the 16 km Vietnam Cham Island Relay crossing, and domestic and international open water swimming training camps. she also wrote 10 popular books on open water swimming, extreme sports and triathlon:
- Teruko’s Leisurely Swimming: Swimming Taught by Teruko Onuki Who Crossed the English Channel (テルちゃんののびのびスイミング : ドーバー海峡横断の大貫映子が教える水泳教室) published in 1985
- I Swam The English Channel (ドーバー海峡泳いじゃった!) published in April 1986
- The Earth is a Plaza! The Adventure Sports World (地球は広場だ!―アドベンチャースポーツの世界) published in 1988
- Open Water Swimming (オープンウォータースイミング) published in 1988
- Joyful Triathlon Manual (ジョイフル・トライアスロン・マニュアル) published in 1988
- Marathon Swimming (マラソンスイミング), published in 1988
- Sports Women Pioneering New Sports (とびだせ!スポーツウーマン―新しいスポーツを開拓する) published in 1988
- Sports Criticisms (スポーツ批評) published in 1990
- Onuki Teruko Swimming (or 大貫映子のスイミング) published in 1992
- Caring About Sports (or やっぱりスポーツが気にかかる!) published in 1997
But for the rest of the people in the stadiums, fields, ballparks, pitches, velodromes, gyms, and pools, there are many unknowns. Besides the reduced number of spectators in all of the venues that will include no foreign spectators, fans can a variety of COVID-19 coronavirus countermeasures:
- Temperature checks upon entry into the venues.
- Availability of disinfectants throughout the venue to disinfect seats.
- Distribution of alcohol wipes and kits.
- Providing contact details to the venue staff in order to communicate official information in case of an outbreak.
- Japanese fans are encouraged to modify their cheers to involve less yelling and fewer vigorous movements (that may lead to virus spread).
- Lack of beer vendors.
- Constant use of face masks.
- Constant monitoring of face masks if the mask is not in its proper position by security staff.
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