Massive! It is the word Rocco Meiring uses when asked as to the challenge that awaits Tatjana Schoenmaker and Kaylene Corbett to be at their best for next year's Tokyo Olympic Games.

"They had not been able to train for nearly three months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Yesterday was only the third week that they are back in the pool. The time they had lost not being able to swim definitely had an impact on their abilities," TuksSwimming's head coach explained.

According to Meiring, he has the Tuks Olympic hopefuls starting from scratch. 

"In the past the longest time they ever have taken from not swimming was two weeks. In extraordinary circumstances, it might have been three weeks. But that was it. Needless to say, being back in an Olympic standard pool (50 metres) was a shock to their systems.

"Due to this, I decided they got to start on a 'train to train program'. It means Tatjana and Kaylene got to condition their bodies, to be capable of starting to train again." 

Meiring is not sure how long this will last. In a worst-case scenario, it could be until November. 

"As far as I am concerned, patience is a virtue. The last thing I want is for one of them to get injured or sick, especially in these uncertain times. If they get sick, their immune system gets weakened, which will make them vulnerable to the Covid-19 virus, from what I have read that could mean the end of any sports career.

"Tatjana and Kaylene should get to a stage in the 'train to train program' where their bodies are 'begging' to do more. Only then can we go onto the next phase. That will be to improve their endurance.

"If nothing unforeseen happens I might get them to start working on their speed endurance by January. It leaves us with about eight weeks to get them to peak for the Olympic trials (South African Championships).

It worries Meiring that Schoenmaker and Corbett are not able yet to train in the gym. Apparently, the longer they have to wait, the more significant the risk of them starting to lose muscle mass become. 

Schoenmaker's primary goal, next year will be to qualify for the 200m-breaststroke final during the Olympic Games. During last year's World Championships the Tuks swimmer improved her best time to 2:21.79.

"The same time is not going to get her to the Olympic final. Tatjana will need to improve by nearly two seconds. That is massive. In swimming terms, we are talking about four metres," the Tuks coach explained.

Schoenmaker became the first South African female swimmer to medal at a long course (50m) World Championships last year when she won a silver medal in the 200m-breaststroke. Other highlights were winning two gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as well as at a World Cup-event and winning gold during the World Student Games.

Corbett qualified for the Tokyo Olympics last year by swimming a time of 2:24.18 in the 200m-breaststroke. She finished 8th in the final during the 2019 World Championships in Korea. In the previous 18 months, Corbett improved on her best time by three seconds.