If Columbus had a hopeful for the Tokyo Olympics, it was swimmer Michael Brinegar.
Those Summer Olympics were put on hold, however, by the International Olympic Committee earlier this week, over concerns of the coronavirus. The games were pushed back a year to 2021.
“It was the right decision right now,” Brinegar said. “There’s not a lot of pool space available for people in other countries, so it wouldn’t have been fair to have the Olympic Trials and the Olympics with a lot of people not being able to train, so it was best under the circumstances.”
Brinegar took a year off from school at Indiana University this year to return to train for the Olympic Trials with the Mission Viejo (California) Nadadores club team that he was part of his final three years of high school.
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Normally, the top two in each event at the Olympic Trials qualify for the Olympics. Brinegar was ranked fourth in the U.S. in the 800-meter freestyle and 1,500 freestyle and 22nd in the 400 freestyle.
“Definitely, the training I had been doing throughout the year had been preparing me for the trials in June,” Brinegar said. “What I had been doing in practice was giving me a lot of confidence for this summer, when I was going to be at my peak.”
Earlier this month, Brinegar traveled to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for what was to be a month of training with other members of the U.S. National Team. A week into the training, when professional sports leagues were suspended and NCAA Tournaments were canceled, the training in Colorado Springs was shut down.
A few days later, Brinegar returned to his home in Columbus for a few days. On Sunday, he flew back to Mission Viejo, where he currently is in a holding pattern.
“Right now, I’m just taking a break and seeing if USA Swimming is going to host any events at the end of the summer and waiting for the lockdown to end so I can start training again,” Brinegar said. “I’m just taking a break right now for my body and mental training so when this (shutdown) ends, I can get going again.”
With the Olympics and the trials on hold for a year, Brinegar isn’t certain yet whether he will return to IU for his sophomore year and train for the Olympic Trials from there or stay in Mission Viejo to train.
“Right now, I’m just waiting each day to find out when the Olympics right now are going to be, and I’ll make my judgment based on when they’re going be,” Brinegar said.
While he felt he was prepared for the trials, which were to be held in June, Brinegar is confident he can be even stronger when they are held next year.
“My mile especially has gotten better every year,” Brinegar said. “Just another year of improved strength training will help a lot, so I’ll have a lot more confidence going into this next year.”
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Name: Michael Brinegar
High School: Tesoro (California)
College: Indiana University
Year: Redshirt freshman
Current U.S. rankings: fourth in 800-meter freestyle and 1,500 freestyle, 22nd in 400 freestyle
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