Submitted Photo: Analies DeLeon

Swimmer and sophomore Analiese DeLeon posses in her swimming gear. Her team continues to exercise through Zoom.

Swimmer and sophomore Analiese DeLeon

What are you doing to train as the swim team does not have access to a pool?

Since we don’t have practice which also included dry land, I have been making up my own workouts based on what I remembered from our team dry land and what I had found online. Then our coach started doing team workouts on Zoom, providing us with modified sets. I do cardio everyday and every other day alternate working out my upper body and core.

How has COVID-19 affected your swim season?

Coronavirus affected my season because it took away opportunities. I was planning on having the best meet of the season at Senior State. I had an arm injury and it took awhile for me to strengthen it,  but I was able to make a great comeback and I was ready to beat my best times! I was pumped and ready to go, I was in my best shape, physically and mentally. When I heard the meet was cancelled I was devastated and upset, some of the team even cried about it! Now, with being quarantined and isolated from everyone I feel I am still able to keep in shape, but it’s just more boring and not as fun to workout.

 Is on land training as beneficial as in pool training? why or why not?

On land training is not the same as in pool training. Dry land focuses more on improving technique and stroke for when you go into the pool to swim. All of our exercises target some aspect of each stroke. It increases mobility and length in our stroke while also bettering our muscles strength. 

 How are you staying motivated to train over break?

I stay motivated to train by just telling myself “one step at a time”. That phrase helps me keep going because once I get started on one step it goes onto the next step and from there on snowballs into a daily streak of accomplishments for the day. I am also able to stay motivated because my family encourages staying fit and eating healthy. My dad and I started a lower sugar intake diet so that helps because we encourage each other to stay on it and we have created training “programs” to assure that I hit every group of muscles. There are little motivation speeches I give myself, too, that basically tell me that in the long run I will thank myself for keeping up with my fitness. 

If you or your teammates have a pool, can you train in it? How?

I don’t personally have a pool, but some of my teammates do. I believe that they are swimming while tied to a tether which isn’t the same as actually lap swimming, but it is better than not doing it at all.

Swimmer and senior Taylor Conley

How does the closure of pools affect your training?

 The closure of pools makes it very hard to stay in the same shape I was before. However, by maintaining my cardio and strength during the break it will be much easier to transition back into my training in the upcoming season.

 Will this time out of the pool affect your next season?

 I think the time out of the pool will have an affect on the upcoming season since we will need to focus on building our training back up to where our team was before. The season will probably consist of focusing on technique and improving areas of weakness due to the break.

Are you having organized practices virtually, training on your own, or a combination of both? which do you prefer and why?

As for my training, I have had both virtual and independent workouts. I enjoy the virtual workouts more because I get to see all my teammates and in some ways we still can have that same supportive atmosphere we would have in person. It helps to have others there to motivate you and to know that they are working just as hard as you.

 Is COVID-19 affecting your upcoming swim season in college?

 Next year I will be attending University of Kansas to swim and I believe this current break could have an affect on the upcoming season. Besides maybe impacting my training, I’m not sure what else could be impacted yet.