How Prospective Olympian Luke Willian is adapting to the coronavirus crisis restrictions
Triathlete Luke Willian has had all the bells and whistles sports science can throw at him in pursuing the Tokyo Olympic Games dream. But to beat COVID-19 restrictions, he has gone back to the future to rely on basic training equipment social runners and riders make do with.
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Hawthorne triathlete Luke Willian has had all the bells and whistles sports science can throw at him in pursuing the Tokyo Olympic Games dream.
But to beat COVID-19 restrictions, he has gone back to the future to rely on basic training equipment social runners and riders make do with – a pair of running shoes, a bike and a backyard swimming pool.
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Willian’s chosen sport revolves around three simple disciplines – swimming, cycling and running – and he is doing all three solo or at times with a second person while adhering to the social distancing rules.
Inner eastern suburbs residents might glimpse Willian riding along Lytton Rd or sprinting through a park around Bulimba.
To maximise training in his family’s Hawthorne swimming pool, Willian ties a tether to his feet, attaches it to the pool fence and swims non-stop for 30 minutes.
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He also slips in the odd Moreton Bay ocean swim.
Willian’s coach Warwick Dalziel said the tether ensured Willian was swimming uninterrupted by turns or touching the side.
“We are just being as safe as we can,’’ Dalziel said.
“He has to do it by himself and be responsible and work hard on his own or occasionally in a group of two.
“It is not in normal training. We are just being safe.’’
Willian said he was still enjoying the training.
“I am enjoying the kms and online gym for a change but would love to be back racing,’’ Willian said.
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Prior to the halting of world sport in March, Willian, a 2018 Commonwealth Games representative, was second at the Oceania Championships and third at the Mooloolaba World Cup event in a sprint finish.
“He was in a good place. Now all racing is suspended until June 30,’’ Dalziel said.
“We just have to wait for that.
“Until we know what is going on, we are in a holding pattern.’’
Willian, a St Laurence’s College old boy, is also doing online gym twice a week and online physiotherapy sessions.
Originally published as How Prospective Olympian Luke Willian is adapting to the coronavirus crisis restrictions