Finding New Ways to Exercise - Swimming & Triathlon
With the realities of he lock downs and brought on by the response to COVID-19, it didn't take long for the creative and driven to find new ways to move, exercise and create an adaptive form of training to stay on track in an effort to achieve their goals.
In the weeks following the start of the lock down, we saw virtual classes, virtual training sessions, pop up pools. It was inspiring to see the way people adapted.
In an article published by the CBC, Featuring Canadian Olympic hopeful - Amelie Kretz is a great example this"Her parents weren't too keen on the idea of putting a pool in the garage of their Sainte-Thérèse, Que., home at first, but they eventually agreed to let her give it a shot.After spending $350 on the pool and a day to set it up with her mother's help, voilà! Kretz had a place she could swim."It's the best solution for me right now," Kretz says, who was in the middle of trying to qualify for Tokyo 2020 when the pandemic hit" Her coach Alex Sereno & Barista Triathlon also is a key part of the process.
The mercury rising Triathlon Club in Victoria, BC put together a great how-to video on putting together a tethered swimming set-up in a small space.
Here is their Low Budget Tethered Swimming Solution.
Pool is 10' across and 30" deep. It was $180 (taxes in) at Canadian Tire You can see it HERE: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/hydro-force-steel-frame-pool-set-10-ft-x-30-in-0813127p.html#srp
I used a punctured inner tube secured to a weight lifting belt.
We found it much easier to do if we were using a swim snorkel and if the Tube/Cord was secured up about 3-4 feet above the horizontal swimmer's level.
- As stated in the video - the stretchier the tube the greater the effort to maintain your position. You are in a constant state of acceleration and the effort to maintain increases with the flex of the tube.
- You can see the massive BLACK tarp I use to cover the pool in the background.
- About 5 days after shooting this, the temperature rose to 17 degrees C/ 62 F - even though the air temp never got above 14/57.
Need the gear for the pool?
Mesh Bag
Kick Board
Pull Bouy
Front End Snorkel
Stealth MK II Goggle
Missile Mirorred Goggle
Vortech Max Clear Lens Goggle
Vortech Polarized Goggle
These are a few of the many great examples of people getting out and finding ways to adapt and continue the activities that they are passionate about and derive pure enjoyment from.
There are many more.
Details on how recreation facilities and private gyms and pool will reopen are unclear at present. How new rules will affect capacity and usage are yet to be determined as well. Knowing this, being creative and finding new ways to achieve the goals and objectives we set, may very well be a part of our new normal.
Enjoy the the outdoors and find your adventure!
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