High School Swimmers in New Jersey Petition Governor to Reopen Pools

It isn’t easy to get young folks interested in politics these days, as the tedium of the medium can be a bit much for the hormonally ravaged minds of the young and the restless.  But the times they are a’changing, and this coronavirus pandemic has everybody and their brother forming an opinion on the subject of reopening the economy.

Americans are walking a tightrope these days, caught between the safety of social distancing and the dangers of stalling our national economy for an irreparable amount of time.  While many of the debates on this subject have come from on-high, there are an increasing number of young people who are getting involved in the discussion as well.

In The Garden State, a pair of high school swimmers have dived directly into the fray, and they’re looking to make a splash with their latest petition.

Two New Jersey high school swimmers told “Fox & Friends” that they have launched a petition asking Gov. Phil Murphy to reopen pools for competitive swimmers who they said are “mature enough to follow guidelines to ensure the safety of every swimmer.”

The petition was created by Jerry Zheng and Andy Moss, high school sophomores on the Somerset Hills YMCA Swim Team. As of Wednesday morning, the petition has garnered more than 4,300 signatures.

“Jerry and I have been competitive swimmers since we were seven,” Moss said on Wednesday. “This is our entire lives and our mental and physical health has taken a toll.”

“This is the longest I’ve been out of the pool probably since I was seven.”

Experts agree that mental and physical health are intrinsically linked, and have often suggested that those suffering from depression or anxiety during this global pandemic could benefit from a bit of exercise.