National swimmers back in shape hitting the pool

Muscat, August 31 - The national team swimmers got back to their training at the Olympic swimming pools at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex after an absence of six months due to the ongoing COVID-9 pandemic. The Sultanate swimming team head coach, Srdan Filipovic, expressed his gladness for restarting the sporting action. “The announcement of resumption of the national team swimmers to the training made the swimmers happy as they are waiting for the decision since long time. The swimming teams were among the first national football and tennis teams which was allowed by the Supreme Committee to resume their trainings as they have some external participations’’. Starting with the recovery sessions and raising the training sessions gradually is the preferred methodology by the Serbian coach. “It is quite risky to register back with the normal training as before due to the stop of six months without actual training. Accordingly, I instructed all the swimmers to have one training session daily and for one hour duration. During this period, the swimmers will swim for three to four km only instead of seven to eight km in the normal condition. The announcement of resumption of the swimming activities of the national team will serve the swimmers a lot and will shape them properly for the forthcoming events and participations,” the coach said. The national swimming team will take part in many different future scheduled events including the GCC Games in next March and April and swimming Championship end of this year. Moreover, the swimming team will participate at the Asian Beach Games in China next year. The upcoming year will be busy with many events as most of the current year is moved to the following year due to the spreading off the COVID. The 48-year-old affirmed that the national swimmers will go through a gradual training programme until reaching to the optimum technical level. “It is correct that the other GCC countries began their training ahead to the Sultanate by almost one or two months. However, we will deliver our best to catch up with them. Moreover, our national team swimmer, Essa al Adawi, who is in Japan did not stop from the training and he is one of the potential swimmers. Beside to him, the swimmers Abdulrahman al Kulaibi and his colleagues will run through the training programme and will eye for the top positions in the next participations,” he added. During the stopping of sporting activities in the Sultanate, Oman’s swimmers were undergoing intensive training programme through online ‘Zoom’ platforms under direct supervision of the national coach Srdan Filibovic. The swimmers were focusing on strength and fitness training as they are away from the swimming pools. The purpose of the online warmup sessions was to keep the swimmers in right shape with proper fitness.