THUNDER BAY – With the Olympic trials likely eight months away, newly hired Thunderbolts coach John McLeod says that more than enough time to get his swimmers ready.
McLeod and his team, which number about 76, have just recently returned to the pool under Ontario’s return-to-swim guidelines, and while competitions remain out of reach for now, shaking the rust off and getting back into competitive shape is priority No. 1 for now.
The answer keeps changing on a weekly basis.
“Our sport is competitive swimming and competition is the crux of our sport. What we are forced to do is we have to redefine what a competition is right now. A lot of people think if we can’t get on the blocks or race different people ... but parts of racing will always be racing,” said McLeod, who left a successful program in North Bay to take on his latest post in Thunder Bay.
“We’re always allowed to dive in the water and get times. We’ll probably be allowed to do sanctioned competitions where the times will count toward the Olympic pathway in the coming weeks.”
The Olympics were supposed to be held this past summer in Tokyo, but COVID-19 forced the postponement until 2021.
McLeod said that just gives more time to get more athletes ready to attempt to qualify and meet the minimum standards.
“We do have a date for the upcoming trials, but like a lot of things in life, it’s TBD. We have the date, we have the location, but we have to rely on restrictions to slowly relax,” he said. “So we have about eight months to plan for that new Olympic trials, and beyond that, new national competitions, we’re hoping they’ll pick up.”
McLeod is hopeful they’ll be back in actual competition against other clubs as soon as February.
Eight months is plenty of time to get his swimmers ready.
“It has to be,” McLeod said. “Kids have to realize this is the hand they’ve been dealt and the situation they’re in. They can either accept it or not. I fully accept it. I think in eight months we can do truly amazing things. And really, our training plan can’t be so fragile that missing a week or two or a month of training throws our plan off. We’re more resilient that that in Thunder Bay.
“Just looking at the landscape and how good these kids are, I think they’re up to the challenge.”
Thirteen-year-old Mackenzie Thompson is one of those swimmers, and she said she’s just happy to be back in the pool after eight months on the sidelines.
She said she was doing workouts at home provided by the club, but it wasn’t the same.
“It was really hard not being able to swim in the pool,” the teenager said, adding she did swim in the lake at her family camp.
“But there were tons of people who didn’t have any lakes or anything. It was hard. It’s nice to be back because I really missed it.”
Matthew Foulds, 12, agreed, saying he’s super excited to be back in the pool and gearing up for meaningful competition again, even though it’s still up in the air when an actual meet can be safely held.
“I can’t wait until we’re allowed to have swim meets again. One downside is waking up in the morning, but I’m super excited. It’s just the feeling when you get on the block and they call your name. It just gives you all that adrenaline at the swim meet.”
McLeod said there’s still room for a couple dozen more swimmers and encouraged athletes whose primary sports are on hold to give swimming a try.
