29 March 2020
Fowke reflects of the Covid-19 situation from his quarantine
Eddie Fowke, the well known IFSC official photographer who has covering most of the World Cups for ten years, is back home in New Zealand.
"It was a pretty dramatic rush back to NZ, and then I had to move straight into self isolation for 2 weeks. Now due to the lock down in NZ that has been moved to 4 weeks minimum. So quiet times here.
I've spoken to many of the climbers, some are handling it well, others less so. One of the most important things for them is that the path back to international competition is made transparent. With this huge upheaval in training, and the emotional cost of dealing with lock downs and the fear of infection, athletes will need lots of time to prepare. At the time I'm writing this the Lead events from Villars onwards are still scheduled, for the climbers thus isn't something they can prepare for with a fingerboard at home.
They will need probably 2 months to build their resistance back up to where it needs to be for World Cup level competition. And of course its totally unfair is some climbers get no training, while others aren't affected by restrictions and will come into the events fully prepared. So I know from conversations that this is on the climbers minds.
At this stage the IFSC has a tough job, this is unprecedented in not only our sport but all sport. Their role is as governance of the sport, and as such they need to do just that, govern.
For someone like me, I have no garenteed income for the foreseeable future. That is tough. But I'm one of many, and I'll get through this. I'm not overly concerned. If I have to go back and work in the prison system for 6 months for example, it's not the end of the world. I have many options, that's just an example. I might end up working to support the health sector, or in tech support, whichever way the wind blows.
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