What it takes for our swimmers to win Gold
OUR swimmers have truly gone through hell to be the best. Gold medallist Melanie Wright reveals her crazy diet and exercise plan.
Fitness
Don't miss out on the headlines from Fitness. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THERE is no doubt our Olympic swim team is an impressive group of athletes.
In order to qualify for the Australian Dolphins to compete at the Rio Olympics, an athlete had to swim a time that ranked them inside the top eight in the world.
Not only that, but they had to do so at the Olympic trials, in the final, meaning they all had just one shot. No matter what their results in Rio, every single one of them deserves to be there.
But when you see them step up on the blocks about to give 100 per cent for our country, spare a thought for what it took for them to get there in the first place.
Swimming is renowned for its gruelling training regimen and there is a very good reason for that. Here is what it took for me, like most swimmers, to reach the Olympic Games.
I was a bit late into the sport, taking it up at the age of 14. By the time I got to the end of high school I was training 10 sessions a week.
In order to fit it around school I was out of bed at 4:30am in order to be dropped off in time for the 5am start (Shout out to all the swimming parents ... and thanks dad!).
After two hours of training and a full day of school, it’s then back to the pool for another session in the evening from 4pm until 6pm. Then, it was home, dinner and bed so I could do it all again the next day.
After high school is over, we have a lot more time during the day, which means we can fit in even more training (yea!). In the biggest training week I ever completed I swam 80km, but most weeks averaged between 40km and 60km.
In the peak of my career I was training in the pool and on land, two to three times a day, six days a week, for a total of about 35 hours. Here is what a typical week looked like:
Monday AM: Two hour swim.
Monday PM: Two hour swim. One hour circuit training.
Tuesday AM: Two hour gym. Two hour swim.
Tuesday PM: One hour pilates.
Wednesday AM: Two hour swim.
Wednesday PM: Two hour swim.
Thursday AM: Two hour gym. Two hour swim.
Thursday PM: One hour cardio (bike or run). One hour core.
Friday AM: Two hour swim. One hour circuit training.
Friday PM: Two hour swim.
Saturday AM: Three hour swim. Two hour circuit training or beach session.
Throw in physiotherapy, massage, pre training activation and injury prevention routines and it’s easy to see why elite swimming is a full-time job.
Now these sessions weren’t just getting in to do a nice leisurely swim up and down. Most involved significant physical and mental distress, striving to push past the threshold of pain as often as possible.
It was not uncommon for me to throw up after a hard session due to extremely high levels of lactate, and lying on the side of the pool completely broken was a common occurrence.
I used to train like this for 50 weeks of the year, including Christmas Day.
It’s no wonder we swimmers eat so much.
I was never on any set diet but the general gist of it was to eat plenty of protein and ensure adequate amounts of complex carbohydrates and unsaturated fats.
“First breakfast”, before training, was normally a piece of wholegrain toast and Vegemite with a banana.
After the session it’s straight into a protein shake, before hooking into “second breakfast” which involved six to eight eggs.
A midmorning snack would include a handful of nuts, or carrots and hummus, followed by a meat and salad wrap for lunch.
Afternoon tea was normally a protein bar or a piece of fruit, prior to the afternoon training session, and then afterwards I would have another protein shake.
Dinner normally involved some sort of stir-fry or meat and vegetables and then it’s another protein shake before bed.
I ate this way from Monday through Saturday. Sunday, the only day off training for the week, was affectionately known as “cheat day” when I could eat chocolate or maybe a few slices of pizza.
Upon reflection, the sheer volume of food I consumed during this time was quite astonishing, however it was necessary just to keep up with the demands of training.
While the training and the diet are an important part of the job, so too is the lifestyle. Parties are few and far between and the ones I went to would be from 6pm until 9pm so that I could be sure to get enough sleep and recovery.
I could never travel or go on family holidays due to the training I would miss and walking the dog was out of the question because I needed to keep my legs as fresh as possible to get the most out of training.
University studies were also a struggle due to the sheer exhaustion making it difficult to concentrate.
Being a swimmer is hard. It’s around the clock dedication of mind, body and soul. It’s easy to see why swimmers who just miss Olympic medals, or fall just short of finals are utterly devastated given all they have put into this, their dream.
So as our Dolphins are climbing onto the blocks this week, give them an extra cheer for the dedication, determination and hard work it took them to get there in the first place.
No matter what their result, they are already champions.
Melanie Wright (formerly Schlanger) is a five-time Olympic medallist. She recently announced her retirement from competitive swimming and is enjoying her life free from training. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
Originally published as What it takes for our swimmers to win Gold
Mum’s six-figure idea after brutal infection
A mother-of-two has revealed how a trip to the hospital helped her come up with the idea for a six-figure business.
Man’s gross act in gym shower
A bodybuilder who arrived at work to find a fellow gym-goer had done a disgusting act in a shared shower has taken to Instagram to slam the gross act.