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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
Collegiate Swimmer’s Recommended 2-Day Training Menu
Lynn Stone
School of Health Sciences, Liberty University
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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
Introduction
The goals for a collegiate swimming athlete to have a well-planned training and
competition day diet reasonably ensure that nutritional, physiological needs will be met and
preserved during activity. This summary will include these two days of menus, before, during,
and after activity, along with the corresponding nutritive analysis for each macronutrient, i.e.,
carbohydrates, proteins, and fats needed, micronutrients, such as calcium (Ca), potassium (K),
and sodium (Na), as well as supplemental nutrients. This data is charted for convenient review
via format provided at https://cronometer.com/signup/. Finally, explanatory insight is provided
as to the importance of alleging to a prescriptive formula for nutritional support. Let’s begin with
a discussion of our athlete, Blaine, and the sport in which he participates, swimming.
Athlete and Sport Description
Standing 6’3,” weighing 198 lbs., Blaine’s nutritional needs as an intercollegiate athlete
bring tremendous physiological demand, but rarely as intense as in a sport such as swimming.
Being physically fit had been the norm for Blaine, but during his vacation break away from the
rigor of training and competing, he gained seven pounds of unwanted weight. While still
healthily in his weight class, he felt the extra weight was dragging on his speed, stamina, and
practice performance. Successfully losing this weight, he now decided to obtain dietary
advisement for the upcoming swimming season.
Swimming being a high intensity sport, though micronutrients are generally easily
obtained through a diet of nutrient-dense foods, requirements for the macronutrients,
carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, are critical to health and performance. Athletes should adjust
their carbohydrate intake to each workout session, varying 3-10 g/kg of body mass/day. A
steady fuel supply throughout the day for swimmers, to include before, during and after, is vitally
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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
important to keep energy levels up and to keep reserves from being completely depleted by
rigorous activity. Swimmers’ protein intake should be 0.3 g/kg of body mass, immediately key
sessions and at intervals throughout the day to promote tissue saturation.1 Specifically, swimmers
interested in modifying their dietary intake to lose weight should do so over a longer period of
time to maintain vital nutrient levels necessary for competition. Additionally, adequate recovery
practices to maintain proper glycogen stores over the length of the competition period essential.
Other important factors to consider along with proper protein intake is “the type of protein,
timing, and pattern of protein intake” which is ingested each time, “influencing the
metabolic response.”3
While demonstrated in other sports, it’s important to note that not enough research has
been undertaken regarding periodizing carbohydrate intake to optimize adaptations in swimming.
Examples include carbohydrate loading.3 As well, nutritional supplements, such as b-alanine and
sodium bicarbonate are useful considerations for swimmers to support body mass and
composition important in aquatic sports.4 Cox, et. al. noted that, “A planned approach
incorporating strategies to facilitate muscle glycogen refueling and muscle protein synthesis
should be implemented following intensified training sessions and matches, particularly when
short recovery times are scheduled.”5
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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
Menu Charts for Practice, Competition, and In-Between
The following Figure 1: Practice Day Menu provides the morning pre-practice breakfast,
during practice snacks, after practice brunch, afternoon snack, and dinner meal.
Figure 1: Practice Day Menu.6
Practice Day Menu
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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
The total number of grams of carbohydrates and fluids, before, during, and after the
practice session consisted of 476.6 g, representing 320% of target. The importance of this value
is to fuel the energy needed prior to, expended during, and immediately following training in
order to replace energy lost. The body’s physiological demands during moderate and high
intensity activity on the training day before the competitive swim meet, is met by an equal
number of calories. Carbohydrate loading is not necessary because the swim meet activity
requirements for the athlete will be less than the workout during practice days.
The practice day menu was very close, i.e., 4185 kcal were burned during practice, and
4309 kcal were consumed for the day, leaving a surplus of 103 calories. The macronutrient
targets provided 29% protein, or 267.0 g, carbohydrates were 29% of the diet, or 476.6 g, and
fats accounted for 15%, or 168.1 g. The energy match up of the practice day menu with that of
the day’s energy requirements had carbohydrates at 320% of goal which was important to the
fuel necessary for this activity, and protein at a 4% surplus, important to replace reserves used
during practice.
Blaine’s hydration preparation for his early morning swim practice, was crucial as was
the importance of a nutritious though light, fresh fruit, and protein smoothie. Before practice,
total fluids consisted of a cup of orange juice (473.18 mL) and 250 ml of organic coconut water
used to make the strawberry smoothie. A ½ cup of coffee (276.59 mL) was had, and an
additional 250 ml of coconut water a half hour prior to practice beginning, total pre-practice fluid
consumption was 1,499.77 mL. During practice, Blaine drank a 20 oz. (591.47 mL) sports drink
and 2-250 ml coconut waters, totaling 1,091.47 mL. His combine before and during fluid
consumption represented a total of 1,499.77 mL + 1,091.47 mL = 2,591.24 mL. The average
adult needs approximately 1,500 mL of fluids per day. After practice, during his brunch, fluids
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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
included 2 cups of milk, and 2-250 ml of coconut water later in the day, for combine totals of
946.35 mL milk + 500 mL coconut water = 1,446.35 mL. Blaine healthily maintained hydration.
Figure 2: Practice Day Carbohydrates. 6
Figure 3: Practice Day Protein. 6
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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
Figure 4: Practice Day Lipids.6
Figure 5: Practice Day Vitamins. 6
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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
Figure 6: Practice Day Minerals.6
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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
Competition Event – Day 2 Menu
The following Figure 7: Competition Day Menu provides the morning pre-event breakfast,
during event snacks, after event brunch, afternoon snack, and dinner meal.
Figure 7: Competition Day Menu.6
Competition Day Menu
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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
The total number of grams of carbohydrates and fluids, before, during, and after the
competition event consisted of 476.6 g, representing 320% of target. The importance of this
value is to fuel the energy needed prior to, expended during, and immediately restored following
training to replace energy lost. The body’s physiological demands during moderate and
high intensity activity on the competitive swim meet day, is met by an equal number of calories.
Carbohydrate loading was not necessary because the swim meet activity requirements for the
athlete were less than the workout during practice days.
The competition day menu was very close, i.e., 3832 kcal were burned during the event,
And 3852kcal were consumed for the day, leaving a surplus of 19 surplus calories. The
macronutrient targets provided 17% protein, or 160.4 g, carbohydrates were 31% of the diet, or
520.1 g, and fats accounted for 13%, or 147.5g. The energy match up of the event day menu with
that of the day’s energy requirements had net carbohydrates at 344% of goal which was
important to the fuel necessary for this high intensity activity.
Blaine’s hydration preparation for the morning swim meet was crucial as was
the importance of a nutritious though light, fresh fruit, and protein smoothie. Before the meet,
total fluids consisted of a cup of orange juice (473.18 mL) and 250 ml of organic coconut
water used to make the mango smoothie. A cup of coffee (532.32 mL) was had, and an
additional 250 ml of coconut water, a half hour prior to the event, total pre-meet fluid
consumption was 1,505.5 mL. During practice, Blaine drank a 20 oz. (591.47 mL) sports drink
and 2-250 ml coconut waters, totaling 1,091.47 mL. His combine before and during fluid
consumption represented a total of 1,505.5 mL + 1,091.47 mL = 2,5996.97 mL. The average
adult needs approximately 1,500 mL of fluids per day. After practice, during his brunch, fluids
included 2 cups of milk (946.35 mL), and 2-250 ml of coconut water later in the day, for
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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
combine totals of 946.35 mL milk + 500 mL coconut water = 1,446.35 mL. Blaine healthily
maintained hydration on event day. As well.
The following Figures 8 – 12 provide data for the competition day menu and summaries
of both macro and micronutrients.
Figure 8: Competition Day Carbohydrates.6
Figure 9: Competition Day Protein.6
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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
Figure 10: Competition Day Lipids.6
Figure 11: Competition Day Vitamins.6
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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
Figure 11: Competition Day Minerals.6
Preventing Possible Nutritional Deficiencies
Blaine has remained healthy throughout his intercollegiate swimming tenure without
nutritional or other physical issues. One area to keep in the fore front for such a high intensity
sport is hydration which Blaine has consistently maintained.
Supplements Not Necessary
Since Blaine lost the unwanted pounds gained during the off season along with the
energy drag on his stamina and endurance, now back to training and competition schedules,
his health has been restored. With this being true, our swimmer boasts of exuberant energy and
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COLLEGIATE SWIMMER’S RECOMMENDED 2-DAY TRAINING MENU
strength and though his teammates use an assortment of supplementals, he does not believe he
needs them because he maintains a balanced diet. If any supplements were recommended, those
he stated he would consider taking would be the muscle enhancing amino acid, b-alanine, as
well as sodium bicarbonate, useful to support body mass. Additionally, Blaine showed an interest
in the benefits of nitric oxide which can deliver more oxygen to the cells.4
From this dietary scenario, based on the foods Blaine prefers to eat, recommendation to
improve his diet would be to cut out desserts during training season and add more protein,
especially on days prior to competition events. Ultimately, he appreciated the value of having
nutritional recommendations made and discussed, which attempted to follow a diet of the foods
he enjoys eating most while providing him with the energy he needs to perform his best. He will
be eating more seeds and nuts on salads, he said!
References
1. Shaw, G, Boyd, KT, Burke, LM, and Koivisto, A. Nutrition for swimming. Accessed August
3, 2022. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2014; 24(4):360-72. doi: 10.1123/ijsnem.2014-0015.
2. Pyne, DB, and Sharp, RL. Physical and energy requirements of competitive swimming
events. Accessed August 3, 2022. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2014 Aug;24(4):351-9. doi:
10.1123/ijsnem.2014-0047.
3. Dunford, M, and Doyle, JA. Nutrition for Sport and Exercise. 4th ed. Cengage; 2019.
4. Mujika, I, Stellingwerff, T, and Tipton, K. Nutrition and training adaptations in aquatic
sports. Accessed august 8, 2022.
5. Cox, GR, Mujika, I, and van den Hoogenband, CR. Nutritional recommendations for water
polo. Accessed August 8, 2022. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2014 Aug;24(4):382-91.doi:
10.1123/ijsnem.2014-0003.
6. Cronometer.com. Dietary Diary. Accessed August 3, 2022. https://cronometer.com/signup/
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