Australian women’s water polo team captain Rowie Webster (Image: AAP/Darren England)

On Saturday the Australian women’s water polo team beat Canada in its first match in Tokyo — but the celebrations were way more muted than at previous Olympic Games.    

Triple Olympian and captain of the Aussie Stingers Rowie Webster tells Crikey what it’s like to compete in a pandemic. 

Cardboard beds and dorm-style rooms

Most Olympic Games are famous for village life — late-night parties stocked with bowls of condoms — but there’s no partying this year. Athletes are largely confined to their country’s headquarters when they’re not training or competing.

“There’s seven of us in my house and six in the other, but I’m lucky enough to have my own room as I’m captain,” Webster said. “The beds are made from cardboard, but they’re actually really comfy. The International Olympic Committee has supplied us with toppers to make it a little more comfortable.”

Webster says the fully Pfizer-vaccinated team has plenty of personal protective equipment, including Australian-manufactured AMD P2 respirators which must be worn outside the bedrooms. 

“Our rooms are the only time we get to not wear a mask, so we kind of seek refuge there for a little bit of downtime and just enjoy the sights around from our windows,” she said.

Playing to empty stands

There’ll be no cheers from the largely empty stands. 

“It’s definitely adrenaline-building having a crowd and marching out singing the national anthem and hearing half the crowds sing it too and seeing the boxing kangaroo flag in the stands,” Webster said. “That’s unbelievable, and that experience is one that isn’t lost on us.”

Teammates had planned to have friends and families in the stands. The backup was watch parties back home — but with half the country in lockdown that’s not going to happen either. 

“We feel the love back home and we definitely know that our friends and family are backing us,” Webster said. 

How did a year’s delay affect athletes?

Webster experienced Melbourne’s 112 days of lockdown — which meant no group training and no gym. Australian Water Polo provided players with wetsuits so Webster — in five-degree weather — trained solo in the ocean.

“It was freezing but I knew my teammates were training where they were, so I had to get my butt into gear,” she said. 

The team will fly back on August 9 and spend two weeks in hotel quarantine.