Dove Valley Swimming Club

  Uttoxeter, Staffordshire

   

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Your Medication

If you suffer from any medical condition that requires medication you are required to declare this to the ASA by completing a medical declaration form (available at the desk). Make sure that your coach knows if you suffer from asthma or any other condition that could affect your safety in the pool.

Some medications are permitted by the ASA whilst some are not. A list of prohibited substances can be found on the ASA website. If you are asthmatic you should bring your inhaler to all training sessions and competitions.

You are responsible for your own medication; this is not the responsibility of the poolside coach.

On Poolside

Safety:

  • Do not drink alcohol before you swim
  • Wear a cap if you have long hair
  • Do not run on poolside
  • Let the coach know where you are at all times
  • Inform the coach if you are feeling ill
  • At Denstone College young swimmers must be supervised by a parent or guardian or their nominated adult
  • Never enter the pool without being instructed to do so by your coach.
  • If you hear a consecutive blow of a whistle you must evacuate the pool and follow the coaches instructions

Warm up:
To reduce the instances of muscle injuries, you should warm up before training as follows:
Blood flow exercises e.g. light jogging and arm rotations
Then:
Stretches (only do these if you have been taught)
Then:
Slow warm up in the water as per the coaches’ instructions

Warm down:
To eliminate the waste products accumulated in the muscles e.g. lactic acid, you need to gradually decrease the intensity of the exercise by warming down as follows:
Gentle swimming at 60% effort as per coach’s instructions. Warming down too fast creates more lactic acid, too slow and there is not enough blood circulation to remove the waste products
Then:
Stretches (only do these if you have been taught)

Sleep and recovery

Sleep plays a major roll in recovery from exercise. The majority of the body’s muscle rebuilding occurs while the body is at rest. In order to benefit most from the work done during training it is important for you to get sufficient sleep.
Too little sleep can hinder recovery from exercise by impairing glucose metabolism, increasing cortisol levels causing decreased tissue repair and growth.
Between 7-9 hours is considered the optimum amount of sleep time although this varies from person to person.

Cramp

Cramp is a painful involuntary contraction of muscles usually in the foot, calf or thigh. It is especially dangerous for swimmers as it makes it difficult to swim, causing panic that can lead to drowning.
Cramp during swimming can be caused by several things including dehydration and reduced blood flow to the muscles.

To help reduce the chance of cramp you should:

  • Do not eat within 1 hour of training commencing 
  • Drink water, squash or preferably isotonic drinks before and after training
  • Drink water, squash or preferably isotonic drinks regularly during training; 1 litre for every hour of training.
  • Warm up before training (see above)
  • If you get cramp whilst swimming you should get out of the pool quickly and safely and then massage the affected muscle/s.

Eating Tips

Regular diet:

  • What you eat and drink affects the quality of your performance.
  • Glycogen is fuel for your muscles. To maximise your glycogen store eat a majority of carbohydrate in your regular diet. These should be the starchy, unrefined complex carbohydrates, such as:
    •  wholegrain cereals and cereal products (wholemeal breads, muesli, rice, pasta, potato etc)
    •  beans, peas and lentils.
      • 
  • You should avoid eating simple carbohydrates such as confectionary, preserves, junk food, and sugar.
  • Your diet should be low in fat (when the fat content is less than 30% of the calorific value) since fat restricts absorption of carbohydrates.
  • It is fine to vary your diet between competitions, see which foods give you more energy to train.
  • Avoid fizzy drinks

Training:

  • 2 – 3hours before training eat a low fat, high carbohydrate meal. If this is not possible then eat a low fat snack e.g. bananas or cereal bar 1 hour before.
  • Before training drink plenty of fluids.
  • During training drink little and often. 1 litre of fluid for every 1 hour of training; water, weak squash or preferably an isotonic sports drink.
  • Within 30 minutes of finishing training eat a high carbohydrate meal or snack to replace the energy used by the muscles.
  • After training drink plenty of fluids.

Competition:

The day before:

  • Plan your food intake for the day before and the day of the competition.
  • Eat carbohydrates and avoid fat at all costs.
  • Do not overeat, stick to your regular sized meals. You cannot carbohydrate load the day before the competition, it does not work.

The night before:

  • Drink plenty of fluids, especially fruit juice and water. You should avoid alcohol, as it dehydrates the body.
  • Have a high carbohydrate low fat meal.

The morning:

  • Breakfast should be your only proper meal today.
  • Definitely EAT NO FAT; today is not the day for a full English breakfast
  • Carry your drinks bottle with you and drink small amounts often. If you are feeling thirsty you are already dehydrated.

During:

  • Time your eating around your swims. Give your digestive system time to work for you, not against you.
  • If you have more than an hour between races then a high carbohydrate meal or snack can be eaten. Bananas, jelly and cereal bars are excellent snacks; cold pasta with tuna or a banana sandwich both make good light lunches. However today is not a day to experiment, stick to what you know your body can tolerate.
  • If there is less than 1 hour between races you should only be having isotonic drinks (nothing fizzy).
  • DO NOT eat 10-20 minutes before the race, all it will do is slow you down. Refuel as soon as you have raced – not before.

After:

  • You need to refuel and re-hydrate your body especially if you are swimming the next day. Start drinking straight after the competition, and have a high carbohydrate snack within 30 minutes of finishing, followed by a low fat meal later.

Isotonic drinks:

Isotonic drinks contain fluid, electrolytes (essential minerals and salts) and are 6-8% carbohydrate.

How to make your own:

  • 200ml of orange squash
  • 1 litre of water
  • 1g or a pinch of salt
  • Mix + chill, it’s as easy as that!

*IMPORTANT*

The more you exercise, the more fuel your body uses, therefore if you increase your training you must increase your food intake accordingly. Rapid weight loss will not only reduce your sporting performance, but it can also cause health problems.


Helpful Advice

Coaches
Please discuss any swimming related queries with your coach. You can do this by either arranging to come early to a training session or attending a coaches’ forum. Forum times will be posted on the Dove Valley notice board.

Swimmers’ Representative
If you have anything you would like discussed at a Dove Valley committee meeting, please tell your representative.

Welfare Officer
The club’s Welfare Officer is there to help deal with concerns that are not directly swimming related (bullying for example). If you as a swimmer or parent/guardian of a swimmer, have any such issues that are causing distress or problems within Dove Valley, you may contact the Welfare Officer who will do their utmost to resolve the situation with discretion and tact.