On the day the powerhouse U.S. swim team welcomed fans to watch practice in Honolulu, Japanese leaders announced spectators were prohibited at the Summer Olympics that begin in two weeks.
Men’s Olympic coach Dave Durden said the support during a pre-Olympic training camp on Thursday gave the Americans a nice push before heading to COVID-weary Tokyo on Monday.
“We’re getting that USA love all the way until we leave,” he said of the crowd at Punahou High School.
Then Durden, also the Cal coach, described the reality of the pandemic-straddled Summer Olympics in a video news conference: “This might be the last time we have fans in the stands watching us perform.”
The ban on spectators came after Japanese officials declared a new state of emergency in Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures that begins Monday and lasts through Aug. 22.
The Olympic opening ceremony is scheduled for July 23, but the competition runs from July 21 to Aug. 8. Swimming competition begins July 24.
The ban on fans is one of many restrictions Olympians, sports officials and media will experience as Japan faces serious challenges to hold an event involving more than 10,000 people amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The athletes downplayed the conditions in Tokyo, emphasizing that after 1 ½ years of questions, competing in the Olympic pool is all the motivation they need.
“Once you dive in, it’s about swimming fast and getting your hand to the wall,” Stanford-based Simone Manuel said. “The weight of the meet is about the Olympics and not really about the fans being there.”
Former Stanford star Katie Ledecky, who has qualified in four individual freestyle races, said the athletes have been in limbo since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.
“None of us knew with certainty that the Olympics would even happen,” said Ledecky, a five-time gold medalist. “It was kind of a dream that it would still happen. We had no idea if there would be a vaccine or if the case count would go down.”
Ledecky, who trains with Manuel at Stanford, cannot wait to see the sports world convene for its biggest event since coronavirus became a part of everyone’s lives.
“I think that is a really beautiful thing,” she said. “I haven’t raced anyone from around the world since 2019. We’re not going to gloss over the magnitude of this event.”
Eric Bean, an executive board member for the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, said Olympians should arrive in Tokyo with a positive mindset.
As Olympic great Michael Phelps told the U.S. swimmers in a video call this week, only worry about what they can control.
“Any energy that goes into trying to control an uncontrollable is energy that is not available for performance,” said Bean, a mental performance coach. Bean added that the ban on spectators probably will affect the Tokyo Games beyond the atmosphere fans help create.
“It is hard to deny the reality that crowds can have an impact on an athlete,” he said.
Bean expects to see fewer world records over the coming weeks as performances drop off because of the lifeless conditions without spectators.
“The context has changed so significantly that it will likely impact performance,” he said.
Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors and the U.S. men’s basketball team is not worried about Olympic spectators because, he said Thursday, the players already are used to it. The NBA played last year’s playoffs and parts of this season inside empty arenas.
Besides, the defensive specialist said, international crowds usually root against the dominating Americans. The fan ban could help Team USA, he said.
“Everybody’s normally wanting to see us lose and you get a lot of these countries that really feed off their crowd and you’ll have other countries coming to support those countries to beat us.”
Stanford’s Greg Meehan, the U.S. women’s Olympic swim coach, said the challenges of pool closures and limited interactions with teammates over the past 16 months have prepared the athletes for Tokyo protocols.
But the U.S. Olympic trials last month underscored that some of the swimmers appear a bit off. Ledecky, for example, was not as dominant as four years ago. Manuel failed to qualify in the 100 meters freestyle despite being the defending Olympic champion in the event. She rebounded to qualify in the 50 free.
The yearlong obstacles, however, seemed to help others. Eight-time medalist Allison Schmitt qualified for her fourth Olympic team at age 31.
Berkeley’s Durden said Olympic coaches have not discussed the deteriorating health conditions in Japan, which had previously banned foreign spectators.
Durden said staying in the moment is the best way to keep the athletes prepared to swim fast at a sporting extravaganza that officially costs $15.4 billion with some estimates at twice that figure.
Bean, the sports psychologist from Southern California, is not surprised by the Olympians’ dismissal of Japan’s rising infection rates and inability to tame the lethal coronavirus.
He said most elite or professional athletes are committed to performing and playing despite the odds. The ethos is even more pronounced for Olympians who have the chance only once every four years.
“If the Games are going on, athletes want to be there and are willing to accept the risk,” Bean said. “That is often easier than accepting waiting for another four years.”
Michael Andrew, the U.S. record holder in the 100 breaststroke, told reporters Thursday that he has no plans to get vaccinated before the Olympics.
Andrew, 22, is an outlier according to USA Swimming CEO Tim Hinchey, who has said about 90 percent of the national team has been vaccinated.
Andrew said he did not want to put anything in his body “that I didn’t know how I would potentially react to” ahead of the Olympics.
Andrew also said the Olympians are sensitive to Japan’s restrictions “because of safety and the fear that surrounds them.”
Olympic silver medalist Chase Kalisz also expressed an appreciation for what the Japanese are attempting in a trying environment. He, like many of his fellow Olympians, wants to focus only on their performances.
“There is really nothing we can do about it,” said Kalisz, one of the world’s best in the 400 individual medley. “We’re all prepared to be safe, we’re all prepared to be locked down and we’re all prepared to go to the pool and go back to our rooms and do nothing else.
“We’re here for our job.”
Staff writer Wes Goldberg contributed to this report.
