World champions Barlaam and Tai take over Instagram Live

Italian and British swimming stars share their lockdown experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic 20 Apr 2020 By World Para Swimming

World champions Alice Tai and Simone Barlaam will take over the World Para Swimming Instagram Live on Tuesday (21 April) at 8:00 PM (Central European Summer Time - CEST) to share their lockdown experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The swimmers spent part of the lockdown period together at Tai’s house in Bournemouth, Great Britain before Barlaam returned to Italy to stay with his family. 

Besides keeping up with the workout routines, they have also used the time to practice their other skills. Tai plays guitar while Barlaam draws sketches. 

The athletes first met at the Dublin 2018 European Championships where they took four gold medals each. A year later, they won 12 golds between them at the London 2019 World Para Swimming Allianz Championships.

“She did better than me in London by getting two more golds. But I got more world records there, so in Tokyo we will see,” Barlaam joked.

The Paralympic Games in Japan will be the first for the Italian athlete. Tai made her debut at Rio 2016 taking two medals (a gold and a bronze).

Fans can send questions to the swimmers through World Para Swimming Instagram page.

This is the second Instagram Live from lockdown on the World Para Swimming page. Spain’s Judit Rolo hosted the first one together with Argentina’s Daniela Gimenez.