[GUIDE] Diet for competitive swimmers - How your kid should eat as a swimmer

When during the day should one eat for optimal recovery? How much should one eat for optimal swim training? And not least, what should one eat?

Questions quickly pile up among many swim parents about their competitive swimmers' kids' food intake.

Are you perhaps also sitting with these questions at home?

If so, you've landed on the right page.

Below, I, a former elite swimmer with up to 8 weekly swim practices, share my own best experiences regarding being an elite swimmer and all the food that must be consumed.

Once you have read the entire guide, you will therefore be aware of which foods are ideal for a competitive swimmer at different times of the day. This applies to days without swim training, days with one swim training session, days with two daily swim training sessions, and on a competition day.

As an extra bonus, you'll get a concrete insight into various excellent “swim dishes” that fill up the tank well.

But shall we just get started, so your swim kid can consume the right food, at the right times, and in the right amount?

NOTE: It is important to keep in mind that this is my own dietary experience as a former elite swimmer. It is not necessarily what Team Denmark or the Danish Swimming Association recommends.

Second NOTE: These experiences with diet were made when I was 16 years old, went to 9th grade in a sports class under Team Denmark, swam 8 times on the 1st team in Horsens Svømmeklub with 4 morning and 4 evening training sessions + 2 strength training sessions per week. At the time, I weighed just over 50 kg and needed to gain weight. However, the experience and basic principles can be used by 10-year-old swimmers as senior swimmers, just as they can be used by elite athletes in other sports.

Third NOTE: This is definitely NOT a checklist of how you should eat as a competitive swimmer. I'm just trying to pass on my experience on how I did it and not least inspire, and then you can choose to take what suits you and maybe adapt it to your own routines;

By the way, why is diet so important for a competitive swimmer?

Before we get too carried away, I would like to specifically clarify for you why diet is so crucial for a competitive swimmer's performance in the water.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, I'd like to concretize why diet is so damn critical for a competitive swimmer's performance in the water.

A good way I've always thought about diet and swimming (which actually comes from one of these Team Denmark dietitians) is like this:

When you swim for maybe 2 hours, the body's strength in the form of its muscles is broken down and diminished by first burning carbohydrates, then proteins and finally fat.

When the workout is over, the food/diet must first rebuild the damaged muscles and then, hopefully by consuming some extra food, build on top of the muscles to make them even stronger than before the workout.

And so it goes day by day.

So if the kid doesn't eat anything after training, the muscles won't be rebuilt - and the next time they train, the muscles will be even more broken down. As a result, you lose weight, not to mention more and more muscle mass, and you get nothing out of your workout. Quite the opposite, in fact.

But in addition to not really building muscle/improving as a result of training, the lack of food and, to a large extent, the wrong food also means that you:

- Won't have enough energy to exercise
- Will have an increased risk of illness
- Won't grow in height
- Will have an increased risk of injury
- Won't recover properly after training sessions
- Will have a deficiency of generally important vitamins and minerals

All of this adds up quite simply: Poor swim times in the water. Keep this in mind.

Basic principles for the diet

This is both for you as a parent of a swimmer, but also for the swimmer themselves. Because even if you as a parent can make enough of the right food, it's just you who has to eat it. Also at school, during training and afterward.

That's why I've created these very specific principles for a diet that I myself have generally eaten according to (which I'll also discuss below)

1. Eat small as many times as possible instead of large food intakes
   While many other non-athletes eat just 3 large meals a day, this doesn't work at all for a competitive swimmer. Instead, you should divide all your food into preferably 6-7-8 meals over the course of a day so that your intake is as continuous as possible.
   
   
2. Variety in food is important
   You could choose to eat pasta day in and day out to maximize your carbohydrate intake. The problem is that you're missing out on vital minerals and vitamins. So make sure you switch up your meals (see the bottom of this post for inspiration with 20 great 'swim meals'). Alternatively, meal boxes have also become increasingly popular in recent years, which gives you the opportunity to vary your meals.
   
   
3. The more fluid, the better
   Even if it means going to the toilet almost every two hours, it pays to maintain a stable fluid balance throughout the day. Get into a routine of half a litre every two hours, so you can top up during breaks.
   
   
4. The main meals are by far the most significant - snacks support.

Calories, carbs, fats, proteins - let's get this straight to start with

When many dietary experts, which I've listened to a lot over the years, talk about how much and what you should eat as an elite athlete. The discussion always ends up being about how many calories, carbohydrates, fat or proteins you should optimally consume.

And that's where I stopped listening.

Because who wants to weigh and count calories/fat/carbohydrates every single time you put something in your mouth? I certainly didn't.

However, we still need to get a handle on the basic principles in relation to the different things here. Because it's actually quite important - just not in such detail.

Basically, a competitive swimmer's diet should consist mainly and largely of these three basic things:

- Carbohydrates
- Proteins
- Fats

But what is it, you're probably thinking?

What are carbohydrates, and what are their sources?

Carbohydrates are simply what is referred to as energy for the muscles. So without carbohydrates, there is no energy in the body. Similarly, it's also what you first burn when you swim.

Explained another way: When you're hungry and your stomach rumbles, it's a sign of a lack of carbohydrates.

This means that carbohydrates are also very important (the most important) for an elite swimmer's body, as they provide the energy to train optimally and are therefore also the first to be metabolised by the body during physical activity. So without carbohydrates, no energy for training.

Because these carbohydrates are so significant, as much as 55-65% of your diet should consist of carbohydrates. That's quite a lot.

To put it another way (or for those of you who are into grams anyway), you should generally have 8 g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight per day (recommendation from the Danish Sports Confederation).

Fortunately, there are many shortcuts on how to get that many carbohydrates.

You can go the fast way or the good way (and this is quite important, so pay attention)

The quick way is to consume white/light bread, digestive biscuits, grape sugar, raisins, and other easy-to-eat foods. The advantage of these fast carbohydrates is that they are quickly absorbed into the body, and you can eat a lot of them before you feel full - the disadvantage is that they cause your blood sugar to spike immediately (which is not good if you're training for 2 hours). This composition is also why this particular type of food is recommended and perfect for a recovery meal (but is not good as your base food).

On the other hand, these are the “good carbs”, which are mainly pasta, rice, potatoes, wholemeal bread, rye bread, oatmeal, and fruit. You probably know this, and this is what your diet as an elite swimmer should mainly consist of, because it contains a lot of carbohydrates without causing your blood sugar to rise unnecessarily. In addition, these good carbohydrates settle well in the stomach/body and can therefore be burned in a good way during training.

A great tip: If you find that your swimmer is struggling to consume enough of the “good carbohydrates” because they simply get full before eating it all, this is not a good thing, as the kid will simply have a negative energy balance = weight loss. The solution is to reduce the intake of fibre-rich products such as wholemeal bread/ rye bread/ oatmeal and replace it with either white bread or energy drinks, which are easier to “get down”.

What is protein, and what are its sources?

In short, protein is the body's building block, the goal of which is to rebuild “broken” muscles or improve their strength.

Because muscles are made up of proteins, and when we exercise, these are broken down, which is why protein is used to rebuild and strengthen your muscles.

The way to get these proteins is mainly through so-called “animal protein sources”, which are meat in all its different flavours, fish, poultry, eggs, and all kinds of dairy products. In addition, it can be obtained from so-called “vegetable protein sources” such as nuts, corn, peas, and seeds.

These protein sources should account for approximately 15 to 25% of an elite swimmer's diet.

This also roughly equates to between 1.5 and 2.0 g of protein per kilo per day (for those who are gram-conscious).

It's also important to mention that most kids (including swimmers) have no problem absorbing/eating enough protein in a day. However, if you want to make sure, or possibly boost muscle growth, protein powders or protein bars can be a great help for this.

What is fat, and what are its sources?

Quite simply, fat is a great storehouse for storing energy and helps to absorb vital vitamins.

The reason fat is a good energy storage depot is that there is twice as much energy (kilojoules) in fat as there is in both carbohydrates and proteins.

But not all fat is good.

Within fat, there are:

- Unsaturated fatty acids
Found especially in olive and rapeseed oil and fatty fish.

- Saturated fatty acids
Found especially in low-fat dairy products such as butter and margarine and low-fat meat.

Here you just need to make sure you get as much of the “healthy” unsaturated fats as possible, while for saturated fatty acids you need to make sure you choose lean dairy products and meat as much as possible.

But fat in its simplicity is a necessity for any competitive swimmer (and generally all humans) because it provides good energy. Therefore, about 25% of your total energy needs should come from fat.

By the way, it is especially during hard swim training / interval training that fat is burned + when both carbohydrates and proteins are burned.

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That takes care of the boring but necessary (or does it?)

I hope you're still sticking with it, even though it quickly becomes a bit theoretical, and that you've got a good grasp of the different sources of energy.

It just gives you a basic understanding of how a diet should actually be structured. If you still have questions about this, please leave a comment at the bottom of the post. I'll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible.

But now let's get down to the more concrete (and useful, in my opinion).

How many carbohydrates, proteins, and fat (and other?) does the body need?

Because I could have just shown you this so-called “elite sports plate model” here:

It actually explains quite simply and easily what a competitive swimmer's plate can and should look like (with modifications, of course).

Meal composition on non-swim training days

Yes, there are actually days without swimming training - even if you train 8 and 9 times a week.

This is based on the following:
- That there is school from 8-13.
- That you go home immediately after school.

Although you might think that now that there is no training, you don't have to eat or at least focus on your diet. You don't have to eat a fraction of what you normally do, and it doesn't matter what you put in your mouth.

I thought the same way for several years, but it just hits you in the arse when you immediately feel tired and exhausted the next day.

On the other hand, the days without swim training are great for getting back on top again and, not least, building up more weight. In other words, refuelling your body with carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, etc. so you're ready for the next workout.

With these thoughts in mind, this is what my optimal meal composition looks like on non-swim days:

As you can see, the diet consists of a lot more meals than the 3 main meals. There are 4 intermediate meals as well, and this is purely based on the principle that more small meals are better than a few large ones.

With so many meals with about 2 hours between each, you ensure that you're actually well-fuelled throughout the day.

It's important to note that on a non-training day like this, the snacks should naturally not be very large. For example, a banana and a glass of milk, a bun with cold cuts or a piece of toast. Because it's still the main meals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner that need to be eaten through.

On these days, you don't need to bring a big packed lunch, as you get home relatively early and don't need to bring as many meals from home (only 2)

Meal composition on days with one swim workout

This meal composition is based on the following:

- School from 8-13
- Swimming training including strength training from 16:00 to 19:00
- Travelling directly from school to the swimming pool

On a day like this, with a swim workout in the afternoon, the meal composition looks like this:

During the course of a day like this, you'll have a few extra meals, which is only natural since you're swimming (hard) and therefore need extra energy.

In total, there are 3 main meals, 4 snacks and a single recovery meal. That's a total of 8 meals during the day. This may seem like a lot, but again, keep in mind that these snacks don't have to be very big - but they are very important to keep a stable hunger/satiety feeling throughout the day.

Another thing to note here is that from first thing in the morning after breakfast, you should have food in your packed lunch for “Snack 1”, “Lunch”, “Snack 2”, “Snack 3” and a “recovery meal”. It can't help but add up to a (really, really) big packed lunch. And this is exactly where it's significant to provide variety and something different for each meal, because no one wants to eat rye bread sandwiches for 5 meals in a row.

Therefore, create a routine with yourself that you always eat a slice of rye bread, some carrots, and a banana for your first snack, for example. For the next snack, you might eat a homemade sandwich and for the last one before training, a light bun with Nutella. That way, it's less monotonous, which is really important when you have to eat so much in a day.

Also, as parents (or if the kids make their own packed lunches), you should just start making the big packed lunches.

As soon as you get out of the water, it's time for the recovery meal, which can either be eaten on the edge of the pool or in the shower. At home, a big hot meal in the form of dinner, and it's always good to finish with a small fourth snack to satisfy your hunger before the pillow calls again. It could just be a piece of crispbread or an apple, but just so there's a top for the body to take off during the night.

Meal composition on days with two swim workouts

This meal plan is based on the following:
- Swim training from 05:45 to 07:30
- School from 8:00 to 13:00
- Afternoon swim including dryland from 16:00 to 19:00.
- Going directly from school to the swimming pool.

On such a day with two swim sessions (morning and afternoon), the meal composition looks like this:

So if you assumed 8 meals in a day was enough, that's a whopping 10 meals in one day with two swim workouts. That's a little more than the three that most people eat in a day.

But it's still what's necessary.

That there is “room” for so many meals is also due to the fact that the day starts two hours earlier here. Namely, with breakfast at 05:15 a.m. What you eat for this early breakfast varies from person to person. I liked to have a slightly heavy base in the form of oatmeal, while others prefer to eat much more lightly, because they don't swim well on a heavy stomach. They instead choose to have a slightly larger recovery meal as their real breakfast of the day. It's really up to you.

But swim for 1.5 hours, and then make 110% sure you take your recovery meal afterwards. Because it's probably the most important meal of the whole day, with a swim workout later in the day as well. Therefore, either take it in the shower or during the journey to school. The recovery meal here should be a bit bigger than the ones you take after the afternoon workouts, as you don't have a big dinner waiting for you at home. Therefore, the meal should consist of a white bun with cold cuts, two bananas and a chocolate bar.

Then you have your first snack at 9.30am during the first break, and your bigger (hot) dinner during the big break.

After school, I only have one snack in the form of number 2 of the day. You could split it in two and have a meal immediately after school and again just before swimming, but I always preferred to have a relatively large sandwich with me for this, as it fills up my stomach a bit. And in order for it to settle in my stomach, it's good to have this 1.5 hours before the actual swim training.

Next comes the swim workout, and immediately after that you have your second recovery meal, which doesn't have to be much more than a banana and a chocolate bar (but it's still important!) because your big dinner is waiting at home immediately afterwards.

At the end of the evening, again to lay a good foundation for the night, I like to have a piece of toast, a piece of fruit or just some nuts.

Great snacks

The importance of snacks shouldn't be underestimated. They're the ones that ensure a continuous feeling of fullness throughout the day, as well as building that extra muscle mass all the time.

But what can you eat with these snacks? Below I've provided some examples of both my favourites and those of my swimming buddies.

Of course, there are also differences in the snacks themselves. As I described above, some should be bigger than others at different times of the day and in relation to the other meals. Because the most important thing is that you're always hungry at the main meals, and if you're not, you've eaten too large a snack.

Some people also prefer not to be “too heavy” immediately before their afternoon workout. Therefore, you might want to eat a slightly smaller snack, while at other times you can eat a larger one.

These different snacks I've come up with below can of course be mixed, removed and added to as you please. It's just for inspiration.

- 1 light bun, 1 banana and carrots
- 2 pieces of crispbread, carrots, or cucumbers
- 1 slice of rye bread, 1 banana
- 1 small plastic tub of muesli
- 3 coarse crusts with butter, 1 apple
- 1 juice bar, a bag of almonds
- 1 bowl of skyr with fruit
- 1 small homemade sandwich with cold cuts and vegetables
- 1 chicken thigh with vegetables
- 1 egg, various vegetables

Good lunch meals

These lunch meals are eaten at school, where you can't just grab something delicious from the fridge. So you have to bring it from home and pack it in your packed lunch.

And so that you don't just have to eat hot, sometimes disgusting rye bread for this big meal, and which you will also quickly go cold if you have to. Speaking from great experience here, I have actually (almost) always had dinner from the day before in a plastic tub, which can then be heated in a microwave we had in the classroom at school.

It's monstrously clever, monstrously delicious and far better than hot rye bread.

Also, this solution with dinner from the day before provides an excellent amount of both carbohydrates and proteins, as it is often a mixture of rice/potatoes/pasta and some meat/fish of some kind.

In addition, it automatically provides the regular replacement of the packed lunch that is necessary to avoid getting tired of the large packed lunch that has to be eaten every day. It's like having something new to look forward to, which is quite nice.

At the same time, it doesn't take extra time for the person making dinner the day before to make an extra portion. It's a win-win.

And this works whether it's a classic pasta dish, barbecue legs and potatoes or pizza. So, just buy some microwaveable containers, fill them with dinner and take them to school.

If you don't have a microwave at school/class, tell them you'd like one. Then the school should find one.

Great dinner meals

I won't go into what you should eat for dinner.

But as long as you make sure to follow the previously shown “sports plate model” as often as possible, you should be on the right track. This is the one my family and I have always followed, and the one I think is most correct for a competitive swimmer, where the diet should be as varied and predominantly green as possible.

So where approx. 50% is the usual pasta / potatoes / rice / bread, then 25% vegetables and finally 25% meat. Then it's the right composition.

Of course, nothing will happen if one day you eat pizza without vegetables, for example. Or one day you have a pasta dish without meat. Just make sure you stick to it as much as possible, because dinner is where many people eat the majority of their food - even if you're a competitive swimmer with so many meals.

But basically, dinner should consist of a pasta/rice/potato dish with a variety of meat and always vegetables.

In terms of quantity, I was always told that I should eat dinner until I approached the vomit limit. And that's why it was usually 2 whole plates, even though I was (am) a relatively small kid. And that's more than okay for dinner, because the goal of many competitive swimmers, especially in the younger years, is to build as big muscles as possible, and you only get that through the food you eat.

Good recovery meals

I think I've said a couple of times that it's the most important meal(s) of the day, and in a way it is. At least in terms of recovering from the hard swim workouts, hence the name, funnily enough.

The reason it's so essential is, as I've always been told by my swim coaches, that it's right after you've broken down the body's energy and then muscles that the body is most receptive to energy = food.

So the body is like an open, black hole for food intake for the first 30 minutes after training, and it slowly closes up as time goes on. And by the time you get all the way home for dinner/back to school, too much time has simply passed, and you're not utilising the body's “open” hole.

Because this hole is open for such a short time, you can't eat long-term absorbable carbohydrates from something like rye bread, rice or wholemeal bread. They simply won't be absorbed into the blood/body until the hole is closed.

Instead, the body needs easily absorbable carbohydrates, proteins and, not least, sugar. As explained earlier, the best way to get this is from light-coloured bread, cocoa, bananas, nuts, and the like.

For this reason, my regular recovery meal has looked like this for maybe 7-8 years. I have simply eaten this composition immediately after every workout as often as possible, and it consists of simple and easy ingredients:

- A white bun with Nutella
- A classic cocoa bar
- One or two bananas, depending on your mood (or hunger)

To find out how much your kid needs to consume as a recovery meal after exercise, Team Denmark recommends about 1.5 carbohydrates per kilo of body weight and about 0.5 g of protein per kilo of body weight.

Other foods that could be eaten with this recovery meal could include

- Drinking yoghurt
- Fruit bars
- Raisins
- Almonds
- Biscuits
- Low-fat spreads

Then you can just combine and change it as you go along to suit your own personal preferences.

One last thing: Energy drinks, protein powder, energy bars, etc. Should you take these? You CAN, I've taken protein powder drinks myself for a while, as it's easier and quicker to get down, but I don't recommend it for kids under 14. Not even on days when you only train once. In my experience, regular food is better here.