After waiting for so long, open water swimmer Kareena Lee can barely contain her excitement for the Olympic Games.
The 27-year-old was one of the first athletes selected in the Australian team, in mid-2019, and she’s had to bide her time after the event was postponed by a year.
But now Tokyo and her maiden appearance at the Games are within sight.
“It’s felt so far away for so long, so it’s really exciting that there’s only a couple of months to go,” she said.
“Everything’s narrowing down and it’s all looking really positive. I’m very excited.”
The Noosa swimmer has remained committed during the past couple of years, despite the impact of COVID.
“Training got ruffled up a bit and I had to adapt to that,” she said.
“I still did a lot of ocean swims and kept my fitness up, and I’m really proud of how I came out the other end of it.”
Lee believes she is in better shape this year.
“It feels like déjà vu because I’ve started my Olympic preparation again. But I feel like I have got faster and stronger, with the extra year.”
“I was ready 12 months ago and I’m sure I would have done a great job then, but I turned it (the additional time) into a positive and tried to work on everything I could – and I got faster.”
There has been a lack of events, but Lee has trained earnestly and fared well in the few competitions which were held, including defending her national title at Coolum Beach in March.
Lee will compete in the 10km swim at Tokyo Harbour, but would like to race in the pool as well.
She will contest the national trials at Adelaide in June, in an attempt to qualify for the 200m, 400m and/or 1500m freestyle
Lee was runner-up in the 1500m at the recent Australian championships, clocking 16min08sec, finishing behind Maddy Gough, and she has gone under the qualifying time of 16min02sec on two occasions.
“There are about five girls swimming around similar times so I think it will be a really good race (at trials) and it would be awesome to get that spot, as well,” she said.
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She will otherwise continue to prepare well for the Games.
“Training will ramp up and stay pretty intense until about one week before the Olympics,” Lee said.
“We’ll get into some long, hard sessions.”
Lee will also try to get accustomed to the likely warm conditions in Tokyo, by taking part in a training camp in Darwin.
With the clock clicking towards the Games, she is optimistic the event will be held on time and in COVID-safe conditions.
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She said the Olympics could “bring the world together in this hard time.”
“It looks like it’s going ahead. I’m looking forward to seeing how the Olympics happen.
“It’s going to be different I know. But it’s going to be my first experience there so I’m sure it’s going to be amazing regardless.
“There has been a lot of hard work going on in the background (of the Games) and I think it’s going to be amazing to get everyone over there and have everyone compete.”
The Olympic Games will be held from July 23 to August 8, with the 10km open water swimming event to be held on August 4.
