Venues closed

During the pandemic, the Hong Kong government closed most sports venues in the city to prevent the virus spreading, with many professional swimming teams losing the chance to train, Wong said.

Wu, Uhi's coach, said most swimming pools in the city were closed and he had to take trainees to beaches. However, the beaches were then locked down, so the trainees had to practice their swimming strokes on land.

"There's something we call the 'sense of water', and practicing on land is certainly way different from jumping into the water, but given the situation at the time, this was the only way", Wu said.

"Most local swimming teams comprise disciplined athletes, which means they can be easily traced and can take nucleic acid tests together", Wu said. He added that although he understood the Hong Kong government's fears about the pandemic, the arrangements should have been more flexible and fairer.