by Will Li | October 5, 2020
Staying in shape during quarantine has not been easy. From gym closures to canceled team practices, many people have not been able to work out the way they used to. However, the recent reopenings of athletic facilities in Santa Clara County, such as pools and tennis courts, have offered some relief. The Lancer interviewed Hailey Multz (’22), who was able to train with her swim team this summer after her team’s pool reopened in June. She said that while quarantine protocols at the pool greatly changed the way swim practices were run and made team bonding difficult, she was happy to have the opportunity to train and see her teammates.
The Lancer: What were some of the quarantine procedures that everybody had to follow?
Hailey Multz: Everyone had to space out their bags on the deck and keep their masks on until they hopped into the water. Also, after practice, the lifeguards had to spray down the spots with disinfectant where people had put their bags. The pool has two entrances, but one of them became enter-only and the other one became exit-only to direct people through the pool area with less contact.
TL: What were the restrictions that make quarantine training different from normal training?
HM: There was only one person allowed per lane and that’s way different than before when we had up to six people in a lane. Also, we were not allowed to change or shower in the locker rooms, and we were only allowed to go in there to use the restroom. When we worked out on land, we had to wear masks and stay six feet apart, which was hard when we did anything running-related.
TL: How did other pools run their practices?
HM: Some places that I know of had fewer restrictions depending on what county they are in so they were almost fully back to normal, with two or sometimes even three people in a lane.
TL: How did scheduling for practices work?
HM: Our practices at Saint Francis never overlapped with practices at PASA (Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics), my club team, because we scheduled some groups to swim in the morning.
TL: What were some of the fun experiences in quarantine training?
HM: It was fun to just be able to come back and see my teammates, and to practice with them again.
TL: What were some of the difficulties that came up during quarantine training?
HM: Team bonding was tough overall but there were some movie nights, whether they were over Zoom or drive-ins.
TL: Were there any situations where you felt that people were not following protocol?
HM: I did a water polo camp in Los Angeles that was less cautious than our training here only because the camp had the same number of people as we have here but in a much smaller space. Also, there were a couple of days when people brought donuts and everybody took donuts out of the box with their hands.
TL: Given that quarantine will last for at least another three months, how would you change the current style of training (such as quarantine procedures and team-bonding activities)?
HM: Right now I am pretty happy with the current training style. I am eager to add more training days, but it’s going pretty well. As for team bonding, that’s a tough one because virtually it just isn’t the same, but I’m sure there are ways to get creative or even sacrifice some practice time to do a team bonding activity. We’ll see how it goes.
