Charlotte CAREY Team Wales’ Women’s Table Tennis No. 1 talked to us about her life in the lockdown.
“My season was going well; we were in the semi finals in Sweden and top of the league in Spain. We could see the Coronavirus spreading in Asia but I didn’t think it could actually happen to us. I was in Dublin for a tournament unfortunately it was cancelled and everything was shutting down so my team mate and I had to fly home quickly as the borders were closing ” explained CAREY.
The lockdown is not over yet.
“I’ve been home for 8 weeks now and it’s really strange as I haven’t been home for this long since I was 16! It’s quite frustrating as my training centre in Halmstad in Sweden is still training as normal. At home I’ve been walking and running every day trying to keep my fitness levels up and enjoy the beautiful scenery where I live.”
CAREY introduced some novelties into her training routine.
“We’ve been lucky to have good weather for this lockdown period and we’ve been making the most of it! As well as running I’ve been changing up my training a little bit. My Dad played rugby at a good level and he’s been helping me with some reaction training with rugby drills.”
Inspiration came not only from rugby…
“I’ve also been boxing and doing high intensity fitness training too! Thankfully my friend had a table tennis table and she kindly let me borrow it and my sponsor tees sport and TT Wales have provided me with a robot. It’s great that I can play in my garden now the weather is nice so I can try to keep sharp and keep the feeling there.”
But nothing like the “real thing”.
“I’m really missing table tennis and I’m looking forward to getting back to training full time however at this time I know I have to do what I can to keep myself and everyone else safe by following the guidelines!”
Charlotte has been instrumental in not only sorting her lockdown programme but also mentoring and guiding others in Wales. She is a role model to them.
“Charlotte has also been chipping in with our social media posts and videos which have helped greatly at this time. Wales will be back and ready when we can ” announced Ryan JENKINS
Director of Coaching.