Throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting nationwide lockdowns, swimming clubs around the world are keeping their athletes engaged on a variety of levels. This includes physical training via remote tools, virtual goal-setting, daily missions and stimulating contests.
Falling into the latter category was a fun competition held by the City of Manchester Swim Team in Manchester, England, which demonstrated some killer out-of-the-pool skills by some of its teen members.
Ben Haughton, Ryan Coulthard photo: Matt Turner
“We have been setting our swimmers a series of fun challenges every Sunday during our lockdown in the UK called ‘Sunday Funday’, Matt Turner, the club’s Lead Performance Coach, explained to SwimSwam.
Bobby Hulme, Reuben Rowbotham-Keating, photo credit: Matt Turner
“Last week, the challenge was to build the Manchester Aquatics Centre (M.A.C.). They could do this in any way they liked. Baking, drawing, lego, etc.
“The guys who guild it decided to use Minecraft and spent 40+ hours putting it together with incredible attention to detail. Every room has been allocated for and designed.”
Creating the masterpiece simulation were Ryan Coulthard (video creator), Ben Haughton, Reuben Rowbotham-Keating and Bobby Hulme, all members of City of Manchester’s National Squad.
Re-creating the facility originally constructed for the 2002 Commonwealth Games was no simple task. The facility is one of the biggest in the country, boasting a 50m swimming pool, diving pool with varying depths, a fun pool, sauna/steam room and fitness suite.