For Alan Sinclair, the last month has not been about what he hasn’t got. It is about what he has.
The Olympic rower saw his ambitions of competing at a second Games shelved for 12 months at least, with the majority of sport grinding to a halt with the coronavirus pandemic.
But it has given him a chance to appreciate what he has and that he is one of the fortunate ones. He has returned to his native Black Isle with fiancee Stephanie and two-month-old daughter Bea, to stay with his parents Roy and Glenda and reclaim some much-missed quality time.
“It’s not what I, nor what anybody will have planned for, and it’s provoked many questions about what we all should have or could have done instead, in the lead up to it,” said Sinclair. “Reflecting upon many of those unanswerable questions, they don’t matter.
“A global pandemic wasn’t one of the many worries that us professional athletes carry with us. Why would it have been?
“We fear the common cold, the sprained wrist, the untimely twinge of a shoulder.
“There’s nothing any of us could have done to stop or prepare for our plans and dreams coming crashing down around our ears over the last few weeks. All that matters now is what I’m doing today and what we as a team choose to do with every moment in these uncertain times.
“I became a dad for the first time just eight weeks ago and I’ve been able to spend time with my daughter and fiancee that I otherwise would never have had. We’re at my family home with my parents who I haven’t spent significant quality time with for the best part of 15 years.
“Things could be and are a lot worse for many others, so I feel very lucky not just to be in a safe environment, but to be able to enjoy each day as best I can with the ones I care about the most.”
Greater family time is a benefit, a rare upside to this current situation. Everyone has had to find a new normal and making family an integral part of that can be no bad thing.
Exercise has been something many have turned to for a release from the stresses of lockdown. Sinclair, a world-class athlete by trade, is no different, repurposing parts of the family home for his own workout space.
“It’s taken weeks for my body and mind to rest and to process the situation enough to enable me to get something worthwhile out of exercise, but I’ve felt a lot closer to my normal self the last few days and I’ve begun to form a new training regime,” he added.
“The first port of call was to sort out my parents’ garage. In among the 25 years’ worth of accumulated scrap wood, broken plant pots, chicken wire, half-empty paint pots and other miscellaneous junk there was an a ski erg, a worthy road bike and – most importantly – a potentially decent training space.
“After a long day of dragging everything out, chucking most of it in a rubbish heap, sweeping and reorganising, my parents and I discovered the new family gym – it’s even got a carpet. In addition to the indoor gym, I’ve got the closest thing I could muster to resemble a weights room.
“Behind the garage there are three boulders of increasing sizes, two curling stones, a scaffolding pole and a step-up box. It’s quite Highland Games-esque, it’s far from safe nor optimal for rowing, but it gives me another opportunity to work my body over the coming months.”
The uncertainty around the virus and the restrictions in place mean it is difficult to plan ahead. Expert advice must be heeded and the old cliche of one day at a time rings true.
“To me it’s futile to attempt to predict what will happen and it would be wasted energy to try and make plans beyond each day’s training,” added Sinclair. “My priorities continue to be my daughter, my fiancee, my family, and staying fit for whatever opportunities come my way.
“The Olympics may or may not happen next year and I might or might not be there. The only thing I can say for certain is that I’m rediscovering training for what it is and can once again appreciate the love I still have for the sport that I started over two decades ago. I might even learn something new about myself that I wouldn’t otherwise have learned while training in a squad.”
