The Lancer Way: Robert Moseley
6/17/2020
The Lancer Way is a new platform provided by California Baptist University's Athletic Department that allows student-athletes to share their stories. All of the words are their own.
Written By: Robert Moseley, Men’s Swimming, So., Bakersfield, Calif.
It seems like very few people thought that COVID-19 would have such a serious impact on their lives – I know I certainly didn't.
Back in January and February, when I first started to learn about COVID-19, nothing about my life was different. I was going to classes every day, training and going to competitions with the swim team, attending office hours with my professors, and eating dinner with my friends at the ADC – a normal semester as far as I was concerned.
By the time I arrived in Cleveland, Ohio for the CSCAA National Invitational Championship (NIC) meet in early March, however, the situation had become far more serious. Students at CBU had begun receiving emails about the possibility of classes and events being canceled because of the virus.
At the time, admittedly, I wasn't very concerned. My primary focus was on performing well at the NIC meet and as long as the virus did not get in the way of that, I found no reason to worry.
That plan, however, was cut short after the first session of the swim meet. I swam the 200 IM on the first morning of the meet and was excited because not only had I gone a season-best time; I had also qualified for finals later that night.
When the team got back to the hotel, we sat down to eat lunch and moments later were informed by Coach Rick Rowland that the rest of the meet had been cancelled due to health concerns surrounding COVID-19.
At the time I was heartbroken about the meet being canceled. This meet had been one of my last chances to qualify for Olympic Trials this summer, and it was something that I had been training for all season. To say I was disappointed would be a serious understatement.
Robert Moseley clocks a PR time of 3:53.98 in the 400 IM to win his heat. It's a top-four time in CBU history and good for fifth place overall in the @WACsports.#LanceUp?? pic.twitter.com/c2DvxBPXOB
— CBU Swimming & Diving (@CBUswim) February 28, 2020
Roughly 24 hours after the meet was cancelled, I was back home confused about what to do next and where I was headed. Having all of my plans for the next four to five months simultaneously cancelled was not something that I had prepared for.
I couldn't swim, all of my classes were now online, and my plans to train, work, and live on campus over the summer were gone. Understandably, it took me a few weeks before I saw the positives of the situation. There are, however, a few takeaways from this situation that I think can be helpful to other Lancers who have had to drastically change their summer plans.
The first – and most important, in my opinion – is the valuable time that I have been able to enjoy with my family while being at home. I didn't think that I would ever be living at home again for any significant amount of time, so it has been a blessing for me to get to be with my parents and all six of my siblings.
It's been five years since the last time my entire family lived together, so I am treasuring the experiences and memories that we are creating right now. This time with our families should not be taken for granted – it might be the last time that many of us really get to live with our families for an extended period of time.
While my first takeaway from this experience might be expected, the second positive I have found throughout this experience might surprise some people. After 15 years of nearly continuous training, COVID-19 has forced me to take a break from swimming. In the past 15 years I have never spent more than one to two weeks away from the pool, and it has now been over two months since I last set foot in a pool that wasn't in my backyard.
To be honest, I really miss swimming, but I also value the break I have had from swimming. If none of this had happened, there is no chance that I would've taken a break from swimming nor would I have been able to see the value in taking a break.
Not only has this break given me time to physically recover from many years of hard training, but it has also allowed me time to recover mentally. For anyone that is struggling with taking a break right now, just remember that now is the perfect time to let your mind and body heal and get the rest the you deserve and need. As a college student, rest is rare. Enjoy it while you can so that you can come back refreshed and ready to tackle life in a way that you were not able to before.
Finally, I have also found that all of the free time I have without swimming has allowed me to invest time into my other interests, like computer science, playing the piano, reading, and talking to my friends. When I am at school, my time is split between classes and training with little time for anything else, so I value any time that I have to invest in the other things that I enjoy. The normal bustle of school and daily life will be back before we know it, so I am using this time to work on things that interest me, which has been a rare opportunity during this absence of swimming.
I know that this season has been difficult for most of us – it certainly has been for me – and I also know that the problems we are encountering cannot be easily fixed.
Despite this, I believe that as long as we are able to maintain the right perspective and support those around us, we can come out of this stronger than we were before.
It is a blessing to be a member of the Lancer family, and I am looking forward to seeing all of you back on campus!
Until then, stay safe, put your trust in God, enjoy time with your family, get some rest, and spend your time doing the things that you love to do. Lance up!
