Seasons have been cut short. Pinnacles have been postponed. Gyms have been emptied. Pools have been splash-less.
Florida swimmer Tyler Watson was in his assistant coach’s office discussing travel plans for an upcoming trip to Canada when news broke that the NCAA had canceled the NCAA swimming and diving championships due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“It didn’t really hit me as hard as it hit the guys who actually qualified (for the NCAA championships),” the freshman admits. “We had guys on the team that had already broken NCAA records this year and were going to write history again in a month.”
The No. 11-ranked Gators were set to be represented at the NCAA Championships by 13 athletes after an SEC Championship-winning regular season.
Highlighting Florida’s slate was sophomore Kieran Smith, who holds the top times in the country in the 200- and 500-yard free, and sophomore Robert Finke, who holds the American record in the 1,650-yard free.
Meanwhile, the Gators’ No. 7-ranked women’s squad also had 12 athletes preparing for the NCAA Championships.
Sherridon Dressel and Vanessa Pearl led the way for the Gators with three individual bids apiece.
However, unlike some of the spring sports, some of Florida’s swimmers still had the Olympics to look forward to.
Except, on March 24, that was taken away too.
The Gators had a number of swimmers who were set to chase Olympic-qualifying times at the Olympic trials in Omaha, Nebraska, come June.
The trials have since been canceled.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of disappointment,” Watson said of those who had their sights set on Tokyo. “For training and making so many sacrifices and then not having the opportunity… but one thing that I’ve noticed in swimming is that the guys that are the best at it, are the ones that are most equipped to handle situations like this.”
But behind the cancelations and the disappointment, there are still laps to swim.
But there’s no place to swim them.
In order to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “social distancing” guidelines, state and federal orders have closed gyms and public pools. Open swims are hard to come by too, considering closures of beaches and state parks.
For Watson, the coronavirus could force him into a dry spell unlike anything he’s ever experienced.
“The longest I’ve ever taken off of swimming is two weeks in the last 12 years,” Watson said.
Watson, who is back home in Jacksonville, could see that streak double after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a 30-day stay-at-home order on Wednesday.
“It’s kind of crazy though. There’s muscle groups that you use when you swim and you kind of just lose your feeling for the water, I guess.”
However, due to how cardio-intensive the sport of swimming is, Watson, like other swimmers around the country, are having to get creative while maintaining a workout regime.
“My parents have some of those little beach-body home-fitness videos, I’ve got a backyard where I can do body-weight stuff, I probably have a weight set somewhere… just doing something to get better every day. It doesn’t have to be in the pool,” Watson said.
Aside from the physical pitfalls, there’s a price to be paid mentally as well.
Watson, like many collegiate athletes, is accustomed to a routine that rarely wavers. But that’s all changed since being sent home.
“I just had so much structure at UF,” Watson said. “Practices at this time, classes at this time, eat at this time… and then back home, I don’t really have that much structure.”
Nonetheless, looking at the big picture has helped Watson stay grounded during this global pandemic.
“It’s affecting everyone,” Watson said. “It doesn’t really change anything. The only difference from this summer to next summer is that next summer I’ll have a meet. I’m still going to train whether it’s in the pool or out of the pool. I’m still going to find ways to get better. That’s what you have to do if you want to compete at this level.”
Follow Ainslie on Twitter @AinsliesTwoBits and contact her at alee@alligator.org.
