An Olympic sailor and former independent school pupil has been encouraging young aspiring athletes to maintain a healthy lifestyle during lockdown.

Charlotte Dobson, a former Lomond School pupil, streamed from the school’s Instagram account for the day to give current pupils an insight into her fitness regime and the importance of resilience.

She spoke about her disappointment at finding out the Olympics had been moved to 2021 and how the process of being resilient involved being honest about how she felt.

“I was really worried about how I was going to cope living at this level mentally and physically,” Dobson said.

She continued: “I spoke to my teammate Sas (who felt similar), our coach Stevie and to our wider team about everything. By acknowledging this fear, we put a few key things in place to make sure we’d be ok.

“One of those is increased physical gym work, it keeps our minds and bodies busy in lockdown. I wouldn’t usually do five gym sessions in a day, instead I would do two and swap in the extra sessions with sailing practice.

“What it really is achieving is mental and physical preparation for when we are able to get back to the water and into a routine again.”

“At the moment we are trying to replicate a regatta week or what a boat handling training week would be like with various sessions similar to different race day scenarios.”

Dobson, who represented GB at the Rio 2016 games, is a sailing ambassador at the school along with fellow sailing champions and Lomond ex-pupils, Anna Burnet and Lorenzo Chiavarini.

The British Olympic Association and Royal Yachting Association confirmed that Dobson would retain her place in Toyko following the postponement of the games, competing in the Women’s 49erFX class with partner Saskia Tidey.

Johanna Urquhart, principal at Lomond School, said: “It’s great to hear from former pupils and the children really love hearing from the likes of Charlotte who has gone on to do amazing things.

“Many of our pupils are keen on pursuing their own athletic career so it’s really inspiring for them to hear first-hand what it takes, giving them a boost to keep working hard during lockdown.”