This story is part of Learning Curve, a HuffPost Canada series that explores the challenges and opportunities for students, faculty and post-secondary institutions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced universities to shut down their campuses last March, but it wasn’t just classrooms that closed. Gyms, training facilities and arenas were also impacted, throwing the remainder of the athletic season, and the upcoming academic year, into question for student athletes.
Kelsey Wog, a swimmer at the University of Manitoba and U Sports’ 2020 female athlete of the year, said she felt like she was waking up from a dream when all of her plans for the year came to a sudden halt in March. She was hoping to try out for a spot on the Canadian Olympic team this year.
“When COVID-19 hit, it was super overwhelming at the time because we were being told, ‘Oh, you can’t train anymore,’” she said.
Within the span of about 10 days, trials were postponed or cancelled, Canada pulled out of the Olympics and the games got postponed until 2021.
Watch the video above to see how Wog and other Canadian student athletes are finding ways to continue training and cope without their sport during the pandemic.