Nutrition - 'Eating for Swimming' and 'Eating at a Gala'

Eating for Swimming

©Anita Bean BSc Rnutr.

Before training

Eat a meal 1–3 hours before training; accompany with a drink of water.

• Jacket potato with cheese, tuna or baked beans plus salad
• Pasta with tomato-based sauce or pesto, with vegetables
• Rice or noodles with chicken, fish or beans
• Sandwich/roll/ bagel/ wrap filled with tuna, cheese, chicken or peanut butter

Pre-training snacks

If you don’t have time for a meal, have a snack approximately ó - 1 hour before training with a drink of water. You should NEVER train on empty!

• A banana (or other fresh fruit) and a handful of nuts
• A handful of dried fruit (e.g. raisins, apricots)
• A cereal bar
• A pot of fruit yoghurt and an apple
• A couple of slices of bread or toast with honey
• Two or three mini pancakes
• A couple of rice cakes with peanut butter

During training (lasting more than an hour):

• start drinking early during training – within the first 30 minutes
• aim to drink around 500 ml per hour
• drink little and often, ideally every 15 – 20 minutes
• fruit juice diluted with an equal amount of water
• squash diluted 1 : 4 with water
• isotonic sports drink (40 – 60g sugar per 1 litre)

Recovery snacks

• Ideally 50 – 60g carbohydrate plus 10 – 20 g protein; within 30 min after training
• 500 ml flavoured milk
• One banana plus 500ml of milk
• 2 pots (2 x 150g) of fruit yoghurt
• One cereal bar plus 500 ml semi skimmed milk
• 60g raisins fruit and 50g nuts
• 4 rice cakes with 20g peanut butter plus 200ml orange juice

Eating at a Gala

©Anita Bean BSc Rnutr.

DO...

• Stick to familiar foods and drinks
• Take your own foods and drinks wherever possible
• Have your normal meal 1 - 2 hours before competing — enough time to digest the food and the stomach to feel comfortable.
• You may feel too nervous to eat. Try nutritious drinks (such as fruit juice, smoothies, yoghurt drinks, flavoured milk), or light snacks.
• Drink plenty of water or diluted juice before and after the event

DO NOT...

• Skip meals – you may become light-headed or nauseous during the event and will not perform at your best.
• Eat or drink anything new
• Eat high fat foods like crisps and sausage rolls before the event
• Load up with sweets and sugary drinks all day!

Light meals for short breaks during galas

• Pasta – mix with a little pesto or tomato sauce. Add any combination of peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, sweetcorn, nuts, tuna, chicken.
• Sandwiches, wraps, rolls, pitta bread. Fill with a little chicken; tuna; cheese; salad; peanut butter.

Refuelling snacks

• Bananas; grapes, apples, satsumas, pears
• Dried fruit — raisins, apricots, mango
• Rice cakes or crackers
• Mini-pancakes
• Cereal bars; fruit bars, sesame snaps
• Yoghurt and yoghurt drinks
• Small bags of nuts — peanuts, cashews, almonds

Suitable drinks

• Water
• Fruit juice diluted half and half with water
• Dilute squash