COVID-19 lockdown forces Irish paralympic hopeful to tread-mill water

Tuam, Ireland: In his suburban driveway in the west of Ireland, blind triathlete Leo Hynes clambers into a box of water, straps himself to a bungee cord and starts to swim - going nowhere, but going fast.

During coronavirus lockdown, the aspiring paralympian has been unable to train as usual for the now-delayed Tokyo games.

Instead he has been finessing his breaststroke in a homemade "treadmill pool" where he is held in place by elastic cords.

Ireland is now leaving lockdown - in place since March 28 - at an accelerated pace.

Earlier this month, prime minister Leo Varadkar allowed elite sports training facilities to reopen and outdoor sessions to resume.

Ireland's health authorities recommend maintaining a two-metre distance from others, forbidding Hynes from training as he usually would, tied to a seeing-eye guide. Instead, he is tethered by twanging orange chords to the side of his personal pool, which is the size of a family car.

Hynes has already represented Ireland at an international level, racing in the 2018 Madeira Paratriathlon World Cup in Portugal.

And last year he took home a gold and bronze medal from the ITU Multisport World Championships in Pontevedra, northwest Spain. He currently trains between 15 and 20 hours a week.

But while a running treadmill and an exercise bike allow him to train as normal, the swimming portion of the triathlon required a new contraption.

Fashioned from wooden pallets and lined with tarpaulin, it was put together by his two carpenter brothers over the course of two weeks.