![\"Nyls](\"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Nyls-Korstanje_rgb-768x1024.jpg\")
COVID-19 deferred the dreams of Korstanje, who is from the Netherlands, by one year\u2009\u2014\u2009the International Olympics Committee announced last March that it was moving the games to the summer of 2021. Korstanje and other Olympic hopefuls with Wolfpack ties have spent the time since assuming the revised plan will proceed. They are back in their training routines, traveling for competitions and strategizing how best to peak in late July or early August, when in Japan for the games. All systems go, in other words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with one big catch: As they trained, it was still a question whether the IOC or Japanese government would pull the plug again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former Wolfpack swimmer Justin Ress \u201919 was deep in preparation for the 2020 games when the pandemic shut things down. Out of the pool for the longest stretch in years, he embraced mountain biking and video games. The summer brought small steps back to normalcy\u2009\u2014\u2009albeit training in hot outdoor pools\u2009\u2014\u2009before meets resumed in the fall. Ress is now pointing toward the U.S. Olympics trials in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But for Ress, it\u2019s sometimes hard not to get wrapped up in the uncertainty. Ress has heard the rumors the games might be canceled. USA Swimming has said not to pay attention, but what happens if COVID-19 wins again? Ress has been swimming for the professional International Swimming League, but it\u2019s not necessarily a permanent option. \u201cI don\u2019t really have any definitive plans,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Olympics or no, Nick Gwiazdowski \u201916 has a clearer path. The former NC State great wrestles for the Titan Mercury wrestling club, which supports Olympic-caliber athletes as they pursue international careers. Tokyo is certainly a beacon for Gwiazdowski, but its presence does not dramatically change his day-to-day. Regardless of what the next major competition is, Gwiazdowski knows there will be one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have a hard time letting something control my life,\u201d Gwiazdowski says. \u201cWhat\u2019s in my control is my effort when I show up to practice and when I show up to compete.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Korstanje has trained at home in the Netherlands, but plans to return to NC State in the fall, with two more years of eligibility remaining after his Olympic adventures. He says he\u2019s hated being away from his Wolfpack teammates, but the possibility of fulfilling his childhood dreams has made it worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, names of bank accounts can be changed. And Tokyo 2021 doesn\u2019t sound so different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Editor\u2019s Note: This story was reported and written before any formal decision about the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo had been handed down by the International Olympics Committee.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n NC State swimmer Nyls Korstanje has been obsessed with Japan for a decade. A budding athlete when he was in elementary school, he opened his first bank account and called it \u201cTokyo 2020\u201d in a nod to the 2020 Summer Olympics. \u201cIt\u2019s always been the Olympics I wanted to make,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n COVID-19 deferred the dreams of Korstanje, who is from the Netherlands, by one year\u2009\u2014\u2009the International Olympics Committee announced last March that it was moving the games to the summer of 2021. Korstanje and other Olympic hopefuls with Wolfpack ties have spent the time since assuming the revised plan will proceed. They are back in their training routines, traveling for competitions and strategizing how best to peak in late July or early August, when in Japan for the games. All systems go, in other words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But with one big catch: As they trained, it was still a question whether the IOC or Japanese government would pull the plug again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former Wolfpack swimmer Justin Ress \u201919 was deep in preparation for the 2020 games when the pandemic shut things down. Out of the pool for the longest stretch in years, he embraced mountain biking and video games. The summer brought small steps back to normalcy\u2009\u2014\u2009albeit training in hot outdoor pools\u2009\u2014\u2009before meets resumed in the fall. Ress is now pointing toward the U.S. Olympics trials in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But for Ress, it\u2019s sometimes hard not to get wrapped up in the uncertainty. Ress has heard the rumors the games might be canceled. USA Swimming has said not to pay attention, but what happens if COVID-19 wins again? Ress has been swimming for the professional International Swimming League, but it\u2019s not necessarily a permanent option. \u201cI don\u2019t really have any definitive plans,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Olympics or no, Nick Gwiazdowski \u201916 has a clearer path. The former NC State great wrestles for the Titan Mercury wrestling club, which supports Olympic-caliber athletes as they pursue international careers. Tokyo is certainly a beacon for Gwiazdowski, but its presence does not dramatically change his day-to-day. Regardless of what the next major competition is, Gwiazdowski knows there will be one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have a hard time letting something control my life,\u201d Gwiazdowski says. \u201cWhat\u2019s in my control is my effort when I show up to practice and when I show up to compete.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Korstanje has trained at home in the Netherlands, but plans to return to NC State in the fall, with two more years of eligibility remaining after his Olympic adventures. He says he\u2019s hated being away from his Wolfpack teammates, but the possibility of fulfilling his childhood dreams has made it worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, names of bank accounts can be changed. And Tokyo 2021 doesn\u2019t sound so different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Editor\u2019s Note: This story was reported and written before any formal decision about the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo had been handed down by the International Olympics Committee.<\/em><\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A handful of current and former NC State athletes train for the summer 2021 games that may not happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"views\/single-immersive.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-immersive-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"showAuthor\":false,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"backgroundColor\":\"gray_600\",\"subtitle\":\"A handful of current and former NC State athletes train for the summer 2021 games that may not happen.\",\"caption\":\"\",\"displayCategoryID\":5}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[109,906],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-4738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-athletics","tag-olympics"],"displayCategory":{"term_id":5,"name":"Best Bets","slug":"best-bets","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":52,"filter":"raw"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4738"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5070,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4738\/revisions\/5070"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4738"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=4738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Justin](\"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Justin-Ress_rgb-768x1024.jpg\")
![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gwiazdowski_sports_rgb.jpg\")
\n\n\n\nBy Jack Daly '01<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n