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Star South African swimmer Chad le Clos had 36 hours to pack his belongings and leave his Turkish base after his training schedule for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was thrown into disarray.
Le Clos had set up in Gloria, Turkey after an earlier camp in Italy had been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, but is now home in Cape Town and uncertain of his immediate plans.
Turkey announced strict measures to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, including a lockdown for those over 65 years of age, as well as the suspension of flights to 68 countries.
As of Monday morning, Turkey had reported 1 236 coronavirus cases and a total of 30 fatalities.
“There’s no real plan going forward. I have no coach, no training partners. I could be stuck here until the Olympics,” he told the Sunday Times newspaper.
Le Clos said it had been a turbulent week and detailed his mad dash out of Turkey.
“On Monday the plan was to stay six, seven weeks (in Turkey). Suddenly, the country is going into lockdown and hotels are probably going to be closed. We had 36 hours to get out.
“Luckily I got tickets the same night. It’s such a whirlwind. One minute you’re training hard, everything’s gone great, and then you have to leave.”
