A Paddling Pool in his Garden helped Olympic Gold Medallist Matt Richards Stay Afloat During COVID

Gold medallist, Matt Richards, revealed the swimming pool set up by his parents was vital to his Olympic success.

Richards revealed that if it wasn’t for his parents willingly ruining their garden, he would not have been able to stay sane.

The talented 18-year-old exposed his training schedule of “[getting] in the pool and swimming stationary for the next two hours, then get out and do weights for another hour and do it all again in the evening” helped to give him a routine and purpose.

Due to the national lockdown in the summer, the swimmer moved in with his parents in Worcester.

Richards created himself a swimming pool by purchasing a large paddling pool and applying a bungee-chord to the back of his wetsuit to allow him to swim at full capacity, whilst remaining stationary.

The young Olympian gave full credit to his mother and father for “letting [him] ruin their garden”.

His impressive efforts over the numerous lockdowns helped him, James Guy, Duncan Scott, and Tom Dean claim the gold medal for the men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay.

The young British team finished 0.03 seconds away from the world record; Richards claimed he was certain that they could beat the American world record in the future due to “Dean coming in slower than expected because he had back-to-back races over the days before their final” and that he expects Dean to knock about a second and a half off his time.

The future of British swimming is very bright with eight gold medals being brought home from Tokyo. With role models like Matt Richards and Adam Peaty leading the way, it is safe to say they will inspire a generation.