“It’s a bit of a weird time but we are all doing what we can,” he said about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. “I am definitely trying to stay in good shape, and I am making the best of this situation. We are surviving.”
On the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games, he said, “It’s hard but they obviously made the right call. It would have been chaos trying to put that together this summer in the midst of the global pandemic. It is a huge logistical undertaking to get everything up and running a whole year later, but I am very thankful that everyone is working hard to make that happen.”
“Everyone had big goals going into this summer. It’s going to take some mental fortitude for the next 16 solid months of work. I think we will see some big performances come summer of 2021,” he said.
Prenot also reflected on the inaugural season of the International Swimming League (ISL), where he competed for the Los Angeles Current with Lenny Krayzelburg as his team’s General Manager. “The ISL was great, comprised of really fast-paced meets. It was a lot of fun,” he admitted.
“I talked to some fans and they loved the ISL experience as well due to its high-energy nature. Season 1 of the ISL went well and it’s something that can be built on for the future,” he added.
Speaking of Krayzelburg, he praised him for being an “awesome guy and he’s great to work with.” “Lenny is so knowledgable and so well put together. He was my idol growing up. I really like swimming for him,” he said.
On the title of the current chapter of his life, he said, “Quarantine season.” “This is the situation that we have now and things are going day by day, and week by week. I am making the best of what we have right now,” he said.
Speaking of quarantine, Prenot is trying to find ways to stay active and to stay busy. “Fortunately, there are a lot of good trails close to my house that are not very crowded, so I am definitely lucky that I can go outside and maintain good social distancing,” he said.
Several of his recent quarantine activities include pushing his fellow teammate’s car up the hill, as well as working out with his dog at home. “We had to try that out,” he said, referring to the car push up the hill. “We are having some good home workouts here. My dog is super-cute,” he added.
For dedicated swimming fans, he concluded, “The No. 1 thing is to keep the communities healthy. After that, things can slowly start getting back to normal, hopefully. At the moment, there are things more important than Olympic swimming, and global health would be one of them.”
To learn more about Olympic swimmer Josh Prenot, follow him on Instagram and on Twitter.
