When President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national lockdown to stem the speed and severity of the coronavirus on 23 March, giving the country just three days to prepare itself, South Africa’s Olympic rowing hopefuls were plunged into mild panic.

They were coming to the end of a three-week-long training camp in the Lesotho highlands, which started on 4 March and were still in camp doing their gruelling training when they were faced with a new challenge – packing up and racing home. They also had to come up with creative ways to stay in shape despite most of the team not being equipped for rowing training in the confines of their homes.

“Three weeks is a long time in the life of a world-class athlete,” says Roger Barrow, head rowing coach of the RMB National Squad. “If the squad were to stop training for 21 days it would literally take months to catch up.”

For a sport such as rowing, where teamwork and synchronisation are vital to success, Barrow, with the help of sponsor RMB and the athletes themselves, moved quickly.

“We managed to gather enough equipment and tech to set each of the 18 athletes up with a home gym,” Barrow said. “Each squad member has a Concept 2 ergo rowing machine, weight equipment and a stationary wattbike to use at home, as well as fitness wearables and connectivity. This way the entire coaching team can keep track of their training schedules and fitness stats.”

Each of the pieces of equipment had to be sourced, collected, sanitised and delivered to the athletes’ homes during the short period leading up to the nationwide lockdown.

“We really had a very short time to prepare for the lockdown, having arrived back from a three-week high-altitude training camp on the Katse Dam in Lesotho on 22 March,” Barrow said. “This gave us three days to get the squad ready in their homes across the country for the 26 March lockdown.”

The solution-based thinking of the team under Barrow is one of the reasons they are, in Olympic terms, one of South Africa’s most successful codes after winning silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics. 

SA Rowing head coach Roger Barrow is keeping the team on its toes despite the lockdown. (Photo: Supplied)

Lawrence Brittain and Shaun Keeling took home the medal in the coxless pairs in Rio with the former hoping for another tilt at an Olympic medal this year. 

In the midst of the scramble to get training equipment to the homes of the rowers, the International Olympic Committee postponed the 2020 Tokyo Games to 2021, which was a relief in some ways and a disappointment in others. 

Brittain told Daily Maverick that the challenge is a mental one after so much focus and energy had been spent on preparing for the Olympics.

“It’s taken a few days to find our groove and find a way to make training at home work,” Brittain said. “The rowing machine isolates the physical aspects of rowing but from a technical perspective it doesn’t add a huge amount of value in terms of how I’m rowing.

“It’s all about putting out more power and building the engine. It’s a useful tool but not a very pleasant one. It hurts a lot and takes away a lot of what I enjoy about rowing, which is being on the water, feeling the boat, and rowing as a crew. But it does add value and will be very useful at this time.

Coach Roger Barrow discusses tactics with Olympic silver medalists Lawrence Brittain at their Lesotho training camp. (Photo: Supplied)

“Mentally the adaptation has been tricky, especially coming from our pre-Olympic camp in Lesotho, which was so good. Honestly, we were having one of the best camps ever and getting through training that I have never managed to get through in the past. 

“Often when we go to these camps, someone will get sick and pass it on to the others, which does impact training. For once we were all healthy and training brilliantly and then people started getting sick because of the coronavirus back home.

“Our original plan was to have our camp and then go to Italy for qualifying races at the end of March. But we realised weeks ago that it was unlikely to happen given the situation in Italy. In the second week of our camp (around 12 March) we realised the whole world was starting to have massive issues with the virus.

“We stayed in camp and were very isolated from the world but by week three we started to grasp the severity of the situation and realised that we would be in trouble if Lesotho closed the border and we couldn’t get back into South Africa.

“Initially I was pretty upset that we called the camp off early. We were training so well and the Olympics hadn’t been called off yet. But when we got back into South Africa and started seeing the news I quickly understood that this was a lot bigger than I thought.

“We made it back into South Africa on Monday (hours before President Ramaphosa announced the national lockdown) and went straight into more training.”

Olympic standard athletes obviously spent their lives being active and although Rowing SA has done everything it can for the rowers to stay in condition during the lockdown, it has been a difficult adjustment for Brittain.

“To have to leave the camp early, come back home, lock ourselves indoors and extend our season by six months has required quite a mental shift,” he said.

“But we have put a lot of effort into trying to keep the team spirit going and most of our morning sessions on the rowing machines are shared on video conference so we can see each other and work together in a way. The coaches talk to us and give us advice in real time.”

Fortunately, there are enough funds through RMB’s backing to support the team through this unforeseen setback and while individual reactions may vary, Brittain, who is 29, believes he will be in better shape for the Olympics in 2021. The bulk of the SA squad is young as well, so the postponement shouldn’t have any negative impact because of age profiles.

For now, coach Barrow’s primary focus is the team’s health – especially that of Brittain, who is vulnerable to Covid-19 after having undergone chemotherapy in 2015, just 18 months before he and Keeling won a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

“We are in this together,” Barrow said. “We all have to stay home and flatten the curve while innovating and finding solutions to doing business – and keeping fit – differently.” DM