Poolside Chat: parents of competitive swimmers

[2ducksandI]

Seems I managed to fill the other thread with talk of taking fridges to away galas! And I didnt even mean a fridge I meant an electric cool box So I've started another thread. Hope you all find it.

@itsgettingweird : the club, I believe that the swimmer had to leave / felt they'd been put in that position.
The university did have a team and their own sessions many years ago.

I think it looks like the best option for uni is to look at unis with their own swim programmes and those with bigger clubs in the same city.

Then research them all, speak to them etc.

It doesn't seem like there's any one size fits all with regards what they offer and who they suit.

Although I'm not sure that helpful as I'm sure that what you were trying to avoid

We had my mums funeral today. Brother had some of his old swim team there and their old coach. Lovely hearing them all say how they are following ds and how he's doing and really encouraging him to keep going.

My brothers old swim coach was the one who spotted ds swimming at lessons and suggested he take it up competively!

So ds swim coach told him this evening that para swimming talent have contacted him to talk about ds.

Hope it's something good 🤣🤣🤣

@itsgettingweird that definitely sounds like something good 👍

DS did some open water training on Sunday morning and has now decided he really enjoys it apart from the getting in and getting out. Downside is he has been throwing up since Sunday night which I strongly suspect is related but I dare not tell him incase it puts him off going again.

Yea it can be related. There is literature online about illness after open water swimming that's worthwhile reading as it advises when to seek medical support. It can be especially common as the weather warms up as the bacteria increases.

That's great he's enjoying it. We had a brilliant film out on the clubs instagram at the weekend when ours did lake OW swimming (ds does not - he's strictly a pool boy 🤣) with the ducks getting in with the swimmers and then going round with them 🤣🤣🤣🤷‍♀️

I suspect though it's probably getting warmer here in the lake than further up north which IIRC correctly you are?

I'm sure it's something positive - he's on a talent programme and they reselect and restart after British and nationals so it's likely about going forward etc as they'll be looking at the selections for next year already and will make final decisions after competition. Ds programme only have 5 swimmers selected so they have to be very thorough! (So positive but not a guarantee he'll remain on it!)

@itsgettingweird i will have a read thank you although he seems to be on the mend now. Apparently drinking flat coke after getting out is a preventative measure not sure if there is any actual science behind that though.

Yes we are up north and the water is still very cold apparently although I have to take DSs word for that as there is no way I am getting in!

@Hellocatshome , what sort of "open water" is he swimming in? A lot of rivers are a bit iffy, to say the least.

Flat full fat coke has a lot going for it. Also make him consume a lot of probiotic yoghurts/drinks if he can tolerate dairy after he feels a bit better.

Our local quarry has a fighting chance of being 3 degrees warmer next time we swim.

Wiggle did have a wetsuit sale on after I upgraded DD's (but that might have finished).

@Madcats it was a river on Sunday Salford Quays before that which was great and a lake coming up on Thursday. There were a lot of ducks etc where he was swimming in the river which did make me a bit 🤢 thinking of all the poo! He does have a wetsuit which we bought in Wiggles January sale but he's still cold. He's basically a wimp which doesn't really help.

DD had her first open water session at the weekend too. We’d been told to make her drink her drink coke afterwards, apparently the club’s old open water coach wouldn’t let swimmers get in the water unless they’d got a coke for when they got out. I didn’t know it was meant to be flat, although since DD won’t drink fizzy drinks I’d flattened it anyway.

Our quarry was 17•. She was most put out that just 3• higher means no wetsuit.

Is the fizzy drink myth still going? Best thing is to wash face and hands ASAP, and wash body and wetsuit when home so bugs don't lurk on it. Don't swallow the water and good hygiene will help avoid sickness. And consider ear plugs, DD lost 2 months swim training last year due to an endless ear infection.

Back in the days when I used to dive in tropical climes, we used to use an ear drop called "Swim Ear" ear drops. You can get them from Amazon/Boots. It dries the ear canal very quickly so algae don't get a chance to establish themselves.

The hard core open water (masters) swimmers swim all year with gloves/helmets/gloves.

The kids don't swim until the water surface is 15 degrees plus (and then they get plenty of chances to stop/not get back in).

This thread has reminded me to order a new tube of Black Witch neoprene repair.

Also watch out when open water swimming in rural areas after periods of heavy rain - all sorts of nasties can get washed into open water (vivid memories of hearing about the national junior open water swim team coming down with D&V on a flight to a European competition after all swimming in the nationals the day before).

And congrats to miniwierd!

That can only be good news, well done!!

Hello lovely swimmer parents, so the GP weighed my swimmer daughter (11) at her regular asthma check up and she had lost 4kg somewhere!?! Look, she's grown a couple of inches this year and doc put it down to that and didn't seem too worried....But I know she is just CONSTANTLY hungry and now I feel terrible, like I've been starving her.

So ... What do you feed your preteen swimmers so that they stay full???

Weetabix and banana or beans on toast at breakfast and hot chocolate after training.

Pasta, lots of pasta in various forms. We batch cook and have a freezer full of sauces.
Jacket potatoes, lots of fish and meat with steamed veg ( we aren't not vegetarian).

They get through quite a few biscuits, cake and fruit too. It's not cheap feeding swimmers!!!

Breakfast is homemade milkshake with fruit etc done in the blender and a bowl of cheerios.

Lunch he has school dinners

Pre Training snack is a boiled egg, glass of milk and slice of chocolate spread on toast

Post training snack is a Lidl protein bar

Tea is whatever we are having just general family meals.

Several bowls of cereal are consumed at various points throughout the day I am forever buying bloomin cereal I should get some shares in Kellogs!

I'd look at when she's swimming too to ensure she gets enough food to fuel training and recover after training.

She needs something with carbs and some protein before a training session (eg tuna sandwich, peanut butter toast and banana or if doing morning swims, porridge is a good option)

Post swimming - very important within 30mins - something with protein and carbs - chocolate milk is good if you have car ride, yoghurt pots with granola, chicken / tuna sandwich.

When DD was approaching puberty and training 9 hours/week (on top of hockey/running etc at school) she ate more than my husband.

Breakfast would be a large bowl of granola and perhaps some toast. After an early morning session at the weekend she'd normally have a cheese omelette (2 eggs).

Lunch would be cooked (2 courses) at school plus fruit for a break. She'd have a sandwich or two after school, more fruit and whatever was left in the biscuit tin. Supper would be something carb-laden like pasta. After swimming she often have a smoothie laden with fruit and chia seed or some eggs. On non-swimming nights she'd eat a large portion of salmon, chicken or steak and 3 or 4 varieties of veg. Flapjacks and bananas were popular and those protein breakfast milks like Fuel or Up & Go are handy to have on standby. Cheese just used to disappear (it was most likely her, but DH has form for consuming a lot of cheddar too).

I had quite a struggle to curb her eating when they shut the pools in 2020. Her appetite has calmed down a lot now, but she still packs away far more than her friends do.

DS used to inhale food when he was swimming - it didn’t get any better once he swapped swimming for weightlifting.

Lots of pasta, chicken, fish, cheese, eggs (literally by the dozen), yoghurt, milk and cereal. Always chocolate milk after a training set. He was still always hungry and even now will easily eat 2 main courses on a family dinner out (he’s incredibly lean due to all the gym work).

Agree with above.

Plus we buy the tins of no drain tuna from Aldi (much cheaper than elsewhere)

Picked eggs from jar are easy if you don't always have time to boil and cook them!

Lots of spaghetti Bolognese!

Crumpets and bacon rolls.

We've been at junior para nationals today.

Short course race and ds finally went sub 1 minute for an 100m free! (1.5 sec pb!)

Also won gold for 50m free

@itsgettingweird that absolutely brilliant! Well done mini weird 👏

Congrats to miniweird (who I suspect is far from "mini" these days). I've been on this board long enough to remember you struggling to get a classification (is that the right term?).

A 1.5 second PB is mad for 100 free!