With the Olympics being postponed until next summer due to the coronavirus pandemic, athletes have been forced to find other ways to train for their respective events. According to the Indianapolis Star, for Lilly King and other Olympic swimming, that means training in a Bloomington, Indiana subdivision pond.
King, the 100m breaststroke world record holder, is being joined by Cody Miller, Zane Grothe, and Annie Lazor at the pond. Per the Indianapolis Star, there are seven swimmers that are using the body of water as they train for the rescheduled 2020 Olympics. Miller won a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
"Definitely never thought I would be swimming open water," King said of the unanticipated change. "But it's kind of been a nice little change here."
The swimmers are unable to use the University of Indiana's facilities -- where King usually trains -- because the campus is closed.
"Anything is better than nothing," Miller said.
Once the coronavirus pandemic spread throughout the United States in mid-March, colleges around the country were closed down. King initially was swimming at a pool in her hometown of Evansville, Indiana as na alternative before being told that she could no longer do so.
With a little over a year to go until the Olympics, these hopefuls certainly need to get all the practice that they can in. Still, swimming in a pond is certainly something that no one expected a few months ago.
