“It’s a little cold here in South Africa. Most of the days, it’s sunny and the food is good here,” he said. “I am training a little bit. I started two weeks ago and I am trying to get used to that again. It has been a little tough, but it has been fun. I have been training with my old coach.”
On the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games, he said, “I didn’t feel bad actually. This would have been the first Olympics that I would have made, but the postponement was kind of nice. It reminded me to have fun with the sport. It wasn’t a bad thing. If the Olympics don’t happen, the world will keep going.”
Coetzee revealed that he didn’t sign with an ISL team for the second season, which is coming up later in 2020. “This year, I am just watching,” he admitted. “We will see if everything happens in Australia. It should be exciting.”
When asked about the title of the current chapter of his life, he said, “Finding a way to get faster.” “I definitely want to keep going until I’m 30 at least,” he said. “Swimming is an interesting sport but if figure out some new training methods as the years go, we might be able to extend the age limit of what a swimming career is. I am trying to really figure out what my interests are and what I can do business-wise in the future.”
He listed the butterfly as his personal favorite stroke to race, though it quite difficult to train. “It feels good though when I can train butterfly well. It’s a good confidence boost, so when you can do really well with it in practice, it gives you a rush,” he said.
During the pandemic, Coetzee has played with a few cooking recipes and even made falafels and other foods at one point.
Coetzee encouraged his fans and supporters to “have fun.” “Everyone is trying to survive this pandemic,” he said. “Take the time. Let your emotions out, it’s okay. This can be a very important time for people, especially athletes, to heal.”
To learn more about South African swimmer Ryan Coetzee, follow him on Instagram.
