When did you discover you had a love for swimming? Swimmers put in a lot of practice time in the pool which translates to burning a lot of calories. Do you feel they struggle to meet their calorie needs?

Just eating can be a challenge. What are some tips you could recommend to help them fuel their body or eat at the right time? Should a young swimmer ever follow a low or very low carbohydrate diet or restrict calories?

What are some snacks you would recommend for them to consume before practice? With a long practice and lots of calories burned, do you recommend they consume any high calorie liquids to refill the gas tank? Not only may a swimmer have multiple heats in a day but they also may swim multiple events.

What are some nutrition guidelines for someone who may have to swim every hours or even sooner? Do you find it difficult for a swimmer to put on weight with the amount of calories they burn? If someone does want to gain weight, are their particular foods you recommend they increase in their diet?

Athletes are always looking for an advantage and we know the food first approach will not outperform any other magical pill or powder. At the same time, if their diet is not balanced, they may feel they need a dietary supplement.

Do you recommend anything different for a sprinter vs. a long distance swimmer? Why did you want to create this i.

needed something specific for young athletes? There are opportunities for club and competitive swimming throughout most of the calendar year, with a competitive high school season embedded right in the middle. Most student athlete swimmers practice five to six days per week, often with morning practices or weight training sessions multiple days of the week.

Weekends may involve multi-day swim meets that begin on Friday night and continue most of Saturday and Sunday. Swim events cover a wide range of intensity and duration, from short, powerful meter sprints up to long-distance endurance events like the meter race.

A typical swim meet consists of a minute warm up, then a period of waiting until the meet begins. The event length varies based on the type of meet. Swim club meets generally last four to six hours or more. A high school dual meet, where two teams compete against each other, typically takes 90 minutes to two hours.

Larger, multi-team invitational meets may last an entire morning or afternoon, or may have a preliminary meet in the morning followed by a finals meet in the evening. Swimming is an endurance sport consisting of one or more hours of moderate to high intensity training, most days of the week.

It is unique from other sports in that it is an entire full-body, cardiovascular workout. Additionally, water creates resistance and pressure, making the body work harder than it would on land.

The physical demands of swimming, combined with year-round practices and multi-day competitions, result in significant energy expenditure that needs attention on a daily basis.

A solid daily sports nutrition plan, combined with smart pre- and post-workout fueling, can make the difference between a mediocre and an excellent swim performance.

The primary fuel source used by swimmers is carbohydrate. During training and competition, the recommended intake is between 7 and 12 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight, per day. For a pound 68 kg student athlete, that equates to between and grams of carbohydrate a day.

Intensity, duration, individual goals and level of training all impact total carbohydrate intake. The energy and nutrient needs of swimmers are very high, and eating a well-balanced diet is critical. This includes getting adequate protein and dietary fats.

Swimmers should aim to consume between 1. For a pound swimmer, that equates to between grams and should be evenly distributed between multiple meals and snacks. The recommended intake for fat is around 1 gram per kg of body weight, per day, which means a pound swimmer will need at least 68 grams of fat each day.

That recommendation, however, is based on the minimal amount that should be consumed for a pound student athlete. Many swimmers will need more in order to meet their daily energy requirements. To meet daily nutritional requirements, swimmers will need to eat frequent meals and snacks.

The following chart is an example of how a pound 68 kg swimmer can distribute their daily carbohydrate, protein and fat intake over the course of a day. Although swimmers are immersed in water for much of their practice and competition, they still need to focus on drinking adequate fluid to maintain proper hydration.

Even a slight level of dehydration will make the effort of swimming feel more difficult. Swimmers compete in both indoor and outdoor venues, which present different challenges in terms of hydration. Both can be warm, causing increased sweat loss.

However, outdoor competitions during the hot and humid summer months put swimmers at the greatest risk for significant fluid losses. Sports drinks, chocolate milk, smoothies, popsicles and water-rich fruits and vegetables can also help keep swimmers hydrated.

For more hydration tips click here. Planning ahead allows you to give your body what it needs for optimal athletic performance. To dive deeper into the topic of nutrition for swimmers, go to www. By using this knowledge, along with real life tactics and techniques, you will be able to take your swimming to the next level.

Performance Nutrition for Competitive Swimmers. Here are 5 ways to ensure you achieve this:. Choose high-quality carbohydrates, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and beans and legumes.

Great lean protein options include turkey or chicken breast without the skin , fish, lean cuts of beef, nuts, seeds, eggs, Greek yogurt, and protein powder. Fat is necessary in our diet for digestion, metabolism, nutrient absorption, cognitive function, and as an energy source for exercise.

Choose heart healthy fats such as avocado, olive oil, fish, nuts and nut butters, and seeds. Focus on the Quantity of Food You are Consuming Each athlete will require a different amount of calories so giving broad guidelines can be difficult.

Here are some easy snack ideas to keep you adequately fueled: Fresh fruit and low fat string cheese Whole grain waffle and nut butter Grilled chicken and spinach wrap Whole wheat pita with hummus Dried fruit and nuts Low fat cottage cheese and fruit For more tips about the best foods to pack and eat on the go, click here.

Agreed — our year-old swimmer used to be incredibly hungry all day until we started snacks every 2 hours with breakfast, lunch and proper dinners.

We follow an old school philosophy of yellow, green, white and protein on the plate. Not only is she not hungry all day, but do not crave anything sweet at any point in time.

I would just add honey to the list due to the amino acids and all the nutrients. We also find that the honey helps with her overall health as an asthmatic. Note that it does not work if you just start using honey on a race-day.

We use honey all the time even before training — sometimes we swop a spoon full of honey for peanut butter in between races. Other swimmers think we are nuts but it works very well for us.

The healthiest diet for all athletes including swimmers is a plant based Whole Foods. This means do NOT eat animal products and processed oils; no eggs, no dairy, no cheese, no meat including chicken or fish. Get your good oils from walnuts, almonds, seeds, NOT olive oil or other processed oil.

Eat plants only especially green leafy cruciferous veggies which are the highest in nutrient density. Jon Rosenbaum. Jon I understand where you are coming from in terms of the benefits of more plants in diets, but there are issues with that approach too. This is due to the fiber content.

Younger swimmers who are burning ~ calories in practice daily find it hard to get the calories they need. This certainly not the healthiest. My child would disappear. Protein is important and very hard to achieve on a vegan diet without supplements. Left Sidebar. by Bailey Duran 18 October , am.

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With your permission, analytics and functional cookies may be set by us or by a third party provider to further improve the user experience and enhance our website. Read our cookies policy. Fuelling and recovery — a diver expends a great deal of energy during training, and puts stress on the structures in the body.

Effective fuelling and recovery allows the diver to be properly energised through training, and to recover optimally before the next training load. Adaptation — if a diver wants to change their body composition more muscle, less body-fat etc , their diet through training has a large implication on the effectiveness of the training block.