Next up, Rob Tate updates us on how he’s keeping sane (or near enough at least) in lockdown. Rob is a Putney regular, and also the club’s kit secretary. He doesn’t compete in pool swimming (despite Olegas’s frequent encouragement) but instead trains to stay fit for Water Polo and the occasional Open Water race.
How are you coping with being out of the water?
Last time I spent this long out of the water it was because I’d broken both of my elbows in a bike accident, so in many respects the current lockdown is an upgrade on that! Still, I do miss being in the water, and the routine that I was in. I’m not used to being in the house so much and must have doubled or tripled my average TV watching time in the last few weeks.
What do you miss most?
The exercise mostly. Swimming is great for just zoning out and working hard for an hour and a half, then finishing up with a real sense of satisfaction. I’ve tried to replace it with running and cycling, but it’s not the same when you’re constantly on the look out for cars and dodging around the pavement to maintain social distancing! I’m also missing the social aspect – it’s not the same exercising on your own.
Do you have a daily fitness routine?
I think I’d have gone stir-crazy by now if I didn’t! I’ve been alternating days of cycling and running for my allotted session of outdoor exercise. My girlfriend set the challenge of doing 50 squats, 50 Push ups and 5 minutes of plank (not all at once!) every day of lockdown. It doesn’t sound that hard, but when it gets to 11pm and you realise you haven’t done your exercise for the day it takes a lot of motivation to get it done before bed! I’ve also got lots of physio-assigned exercises to do for various ailments I’ve picked up over the years, so I’m trying to make a habit of doing those too.
Any recommendations for team mates?
Nothing to do with swimming, or lockdown, whatsoever; but if you’re looking to be repeatedly flabbergasted by a TV show then I can thoroughly recommend Tiger King on Netflix.
Which competitions have you missed/will you miss and how will that affect you?
A mixed bag at the moment. My water polo team were supposed to start our London league campaign in the last week of March, but that has unfortunately been indefinitely postponed. It’s unfortunate because we were feeling really positive after a good winter of preparation, but hopefully we’ll still retain some of that fitness when the pools reopen.
I’m supposed to be competing in the Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim in San Francisco in mid-June. It hasn’t been cancelled yet, so I’m rather optimistically hoping there’s still a chance it’ll go ahead (and that I’ll be able to get there to take part!). I’m not sure I’ll be in particularly good shape to compete if we haven’t been back in the pool by that point though.
On a non-aquatic note, I was also supposed to be running the Edinburgh half marathon at the end of May. That’s now been postponed until September, which is actually a relatively positive thing for me since the lack of swimming time has forced me to focusing on running training instead.
How is your partner/family/flat mates coping with you not swimming?
My flatmates don’t seem too upset by it but are a little unused to me being home every evening, rather than coming home late smelling of chlorine. I think my girlfriend is a bit more concerned about the fact that I’ve used working from home as an excuse to stop shaving…
What are you most looking forward to when you can get back in the water?
I think some long, steady volume (preferably freestyle) would be ideal after a long break; but I’ve no doubt we’ll be back to IM Week and “Ed’s favourite set” soon enough! Hopefully we’ll still be in open water season by the time restrictions have eased too.