TEENAGE Cardigan para-swimmer Rhys Davies is waiting anxiously for the re-opening of swimming pools which have been closed since March due to the coronavirus crisis.

The 19-year-old boat-building firm employee from Llangoedmor was a member of the British team for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics but the event was postponed until next year.

Before postponement Davies was in great form and widely regarded as a contender for a gold medal.

During preparations he set a new time for the INAS (Institute National d’Administration Sanitaire) 200 metres backstroke and 200 metres freestyle and was understandably “gutted” when the games were scrapped.

Resigning himself to a further 12 months he was given more bad news in March when all swimming pools in the country were shut as part of the emergency, preventing him from training.

Like other sportsmen and women throughout the country Davies is keeping fit as best he can in a lockdown situation.

Fitness training at home is all well and good, but as he embarks on a long and intensive build-up to Japan next year he really needs to be in the pool.

And the wait goes on after a ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not reveal when swimming pools can reopen.

The swimming authorities, who are sharing information with government advisors, would ideally like three weeks’ notice for reopening to ensure facilities are both safe and ready for swimmers to return.