THE POSITIVE COVID test last Tuesday was a bolt from the blue.
Suddenly, Ellen Keane’s preparations for the World Para Swimming Championships were thrown into disarray.
With Covid-19 protocols easing to almost absence on these shores of late, the 2020 Paralympic gold medallist was readying herself for the return to constant mask wearing and regular antigen testing ahead of a training camp in Fuerteventura this week, and then, the World Championships in Madeira from 12-18 June.
The day the Irish Para swimming team manager dropped off tests for when they were away, Keane tested positive.
“I was feeling fine that day,” she recalls. “I had absolutely no symptoms and then just all of a sudden, I didn’t feel well. I was like, ‘This is really weird.’
“I looked at my coach, and I was like, ‘I better do a test just incase,’ because one of my team-mates was supposed to stay in my house that night. It was just a coincidence that it all lined up and I did the test. As soon as I did the test, I was like, ‘Oooh, okay…’”
I’m working closely (but virtually) with my para team and following the advice from my doctor. I’m hoping to still be able to compete at worlds but ultimately I need to take it easy right now so I don’t risk making myself sicker.
— Ellen Keane PLY💜 (@keane_ellen) May 26, 2022
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Shortly after the dreaded T line lit up, she reached out to the team doctor to get a plan in place. Five days isolation, and then hopefully, two negative tests in-a-row.
Unfortunately, she hasn’t tested negative just yet, so can’t fly with the squad to Fuerteventura tomorrow, but the hope is she’ll join them as soon as possible.
Thankfully, though, and most importantly, she’s feeling quite well, and has taken advantage of the opportunity to rest.
“I’m no too bad,” the 27-year-old notes. “I’m just really tired. I had a few of the symptoms more early on, my body was aching, and I had flu-like symptoms, but I’m okay. It’s just the timing of it is not ideal.
“Having a World Championships in two weeks is not ideal at all. But it’s the world that we live in at the moment. And I guess the only way to really avoid it is to not go outside, which isn’t realistic and isn’t something that you shouldn’t be doing, even for your own mental health. It is what it is, and at least I didn’t catch it in Tokyo — that was my biggest fear. It’s just it’s just one of those things I’ve just had to accept now.
“I was really disappointed, and I am really disappointed, but I’m kind of glad it happened now, rather than abroad, and then you’d be stuck in a hotel room. That’s the worst case scenario.
“I’ve done so well to avoid it for the past two years. Everyone was getting it on Dancing With The Stars, and I literally spent all day with my dance partner face-to-face while he had it, without us knowing he had it, and I still didn’t get it. I think I’m just meant to get it this time around. I’m just taking every day as it comes.”
Reigning Paralympic 100m breaststroke SB8 champion Keane is prioritising recovery over any light training at home, weary of the lack of research around the impact of Covid on athletes and sporting performance.
She is hell-bent on competing at the Worlds, ready to follow the return to sport protocol once she’s started testing negative, stressing she’ll work closely with the physiologist and doctor at camp.
The prospect of not being able to compete isn’t on her radar.
“We haven’t even come to that yet. I haven’t had bad symptoms, so it’s not like I’m struggling to breathe or anything. I am asthmatic, so that would be in the back of my mind a little bit. But I’m actually fine. I guess we won’t really know until I’m back in the pool.
“I do have a tiny little dog who’s very annoying. I’ve had a few walks – I’ve literally been waiting until it’s late in the evening, and I’ve been going to the back arse of nowhere so I don’t run into anyone. I have been outside, doing a few walks, and I don’t feel too bad from that, so I think I’m okay and I think it will go ahead, I will be competing.”
That said, her expectations are certainly curtailed as a result.
“I think if I was to aim for gold, it would be so unrealistic. It is disappointing, not knowing where I’m at and what I am capable of. But I’ve been around for so long that I’m going to be able to fall back into the routine of things, it’s not going to affect me too much.
“I know how to prepare, I’m not going to be doubting myself at all in terms of my routine or anything. My routine and my my race practice is pretty solid. I guess this year, being a post-Olympic and Paralympic year, the kind of pressure is off in terms of… I think every athlete always has their ebbs and flows and definitely post-Games, a lot of people tend to dip a little bit so I guess it’s just a chance to get out there and race and fall in love with racing again. I’m excited to kind of get that routine going again.”
Clontarf native Keane has certainly accepted the card she has been dealt, with excitement taking over, both for herself and the squad — “It’s nearly those those things that knock you down that make you want to go back and make you want to fight harder.”
“Obviously, I’m gonna go out and perform and if I don’t perform to my best or to a standard that I know I’m capable of, I’m not going to question myself because I know my situation.
“It is a chance to be more of a leadership role for my team-mates because there’s a lot of younger team-mates now on the squad. Oh my God, it’s so exciting, they’re so good and I’m so excited to see how they’re gonna get on. Come Paris, these guys are going to be amazing and hopefully we’re going to have a few more podium performances. I actually I can’t wait to see what happens at Worlds because I do believe we’re going to have a few podium performances from other people on the squad.”
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Paralympic gold medallist, Ellen Keane (Swimming) was today announced as a Sports Ambassador for Dublin City Council alongside Olympic gold medallist Kellie Harrington (Boxing).
The partnership sees DCC teaming up with the two local sports stars to promote the benefits of sport and physical activity in Dublin, while highlighting the importance of a wide and varied sporting infrastructure for a healthy and happy city
