The cancellation of fall varsity sports due to the coronavirus pandemic, has created an opportunity for McGillAthletics.ca to profile two student-athletes every week. In our "Home & Away Series" we rotate between individuals that have elected to take online courses from their family home, and others that are doing their online studies from their on-campus residence.   

Meet Florian Bostyn, a Desautels faculty of management senior from Montreal, Que. He is a 5-foot-11 member of the alpine ski team.  

"I've split my time between Montreal and France this semester. I was back in Montreal for about a month and a half, from early September until mid-October, and now I'm in the alps. It's been great here, we train almost every morning, get course work done during the day and head to Auckland, Switzerland most weekends to ski with some friends. They closed everything down in Paris, so it's great to have hills accessible and so close by. The drive takes about an hour and a half, and we've been leaving on Thursdays and returning on Sundays. Overall, it's a really good groove to be in." 

Bostyn has a trainer that works with him on a frequent basis and is currently living with other skiers. It's a great environment to train in and it will allow him to improve and come back stronger than ever. 

"There's a huge focus in our training obviously on the legs, on the lower back and on the core. I really feel that I'm in great shape and have done a nice job of staying as regimented as possible with both my training and course work. It's a lot of time on the hills, but it definitely pays dividends when you see yourself improving. The adjustment to the online learning was steep at first, but now I'm used to it." 

Bostyn says that the team has remained a tight-knit group, and that's made it easier to get through such a different semester. 

"We have a couple of group chats, one with the coaches and the other just with us athletes. Every weekend we also have Zoom training sessions available to us, the program has been very supportive. We are staying pretty well connected, which has been great for everyone and I think good for our psyche. I'm sure it will continue into 2021." 

He's excited to get back to Montreal to see friends and teammates again, but for the time being has a setup that's working well and allows him to excel.