Swimmers are always suggested to stick with their regular or familiar foods.
If they are not familiar or compatible with foods like curries, baked beans or pulses, and spicy foods you have to avoid them since it causes stomach discomfort the very next day.
Having proper food before swimming helps you to develop your strength and cardiovascular fitness which improves your overall performance.
Swimmers must take care of their diet in order to boost their performance in the swimming pool.
Here we provide you with some of the options of food to eat and not to eat before swimming.
What to eat before a swim meet?
Swimmers are suggested to have something before their match. Never swim empty stomach.
Always go with the foods which are easy to digest like cereals with milk, bananas, fruits, toast with jam, and yogurt.
If you are struggling with solid foods you can always go with liquid foods such as yogurt, milkshake, or a bowl of smoothies.
You can check the meals which can go with you to your competition while your training.
And make sure you wait for a couple of hours after having your meal because your digestive system and your muscles might not get the blood supply you need to work efficiently.
What to eat for breakfast before your swim meet?
It is important to have a healthy plus adequate amount of food on the day of a swim meet.
The meal you have before your swim meet will give you steady energy throughout the day.
Having carbohydrates such as plain bagels and English muffins will help you to keep going with your steady energy.
It is important to add protein along with carbs to your meal. Swimmers can always go with scrambled eggs since it contains protein and it is also easy to digest.
Always try to finish your breakfast with fruits or fresh sugar-free orange juice, it helps you to fuel your body with potassium and vitamin C.
Here are some of the foods to have for breakfast before your swim meet.
- Porridge oats
- Pasta
- Whole-grain bread
- Sweet potatoes
- Peas
- Yogurt
- Eggs
- Bananas
- Smoothies
What to eat during your swim meet?
If you have to swim again, try to eat something good as soon as you complete swimming which helps you to recover faster.
Choose complex carbohydrates instead of high fats and simple sugar foods which will do no good to your body.
If your stomach can’t go for solid foods you can always go for liquid foods including sports drinks, flavored milk, or diluted juice.
Having food will make you comfortable and can also physical problems like cause cramps or stomach. For the best options, you can also go with energy bars or pieces of fruits.
Ensure that you are eating healthy foods from your regular diet such as vegetables, fruit, and nuts.
Here we provide you with a list of foods to have during your swim meet.
- Pasta Salad
- Bananas, Grapes, apples, plums, and pears
- Plain sandwiches with tuna, chicken, cheese with salad, peanut butter, or banana
- Smoothies
- Dried fruits like apricots, mangoes, raisins
- Fruits buns
- Yogurt
Stay Hydrated
Always stay hydrated, make sure to drink water before, during, and after your match.
There are alternatives to water you can have or can prefer more flavour are sports drink such as Gatorade or Powerade.
Drinks like Gatorade will provide you quick spikes before you get into the water.
What to eat for lunch before your swim meet?
Here are some of list of foods to have for lunch before swi meet.
- Whole grain pasta salad with tomato based sauce
- Whole grain bread sandwich with turkey and a slice of low fat cheese or with green salads
- Vegetable and brown rice
- Milk
What not to eat before your swim meet?
Swimmers should always focus on what they are eating because his/her performance depends upon what they are having.
Here are some of the foods to avoid as a swimmer before your swim meet.
Spicy and Fatty foods
Keep yourself away from the foods that might cause your body uncomfortable from gastrointestinal problems like cramps, indigestion, and bloating.
You have to avoid spicy foods and foods containing rich fats. But you can always have little fats fruits like avocado, fish, and nuts avoiding piece of pepperoni pizza.
High Fiber foods
Foods containing high fiber are difficult to digest in a short period of time so, its a big NO before your swim meet.
Although high fiber foods help to prevent health diesese and diabitites, but if you have it before your match you will suffer from nausea and indigestion.
You can save these types of food like wheat pasta, beans, brocolli for after meal since you will have much time to digest.
Sugary Foods
Foods containing high sugar will slows food’s travel time through the gastrointestinal tract.
You have to avoid sugary foods before your swim meet since it takes time to digest by your body.
Cereals and Granola bars
It might sound healthy but did you know that these popular snacks are wrapped in more sugar than any other snacks.
Hence, you have to avoid these type of sugary items and ensure that you consume less than 5-10 grams per serving and also calories about 180 calories.
Caffeine
Especially for teen swimmers, having more than 100 mg of caffeine per day will results out in anxiety, poor sleep, a rapid heartbeat, increased blood pressure, altered mental states, seizures for some extreme cases.
Caffeine is also on the banned list with the NCCA.
Is Oatmeal good before a swim meet?
Yes, going with an oatmeal is definitely your best option since it is light and can be easily digested.
You can have instant oatmeal with low fat milk or with skim.
Similalrly, many swimmers choose oatmeal for their pre-race meal because of its element carbohydrate.
Though oatmeal contain high fiber, they are gentle in most of the stomach particularly if you take it with the water instead of milk.
Having an oatmeal before 30 to 60 minutes is always a good prework out meal.