Part II: Hydration

The month of August brings the commencement of major international competitions and Fall sports practices. August also brings with it some of the hottest and most humid days of the year, which makes for a well-timed continuation of the discussion on how to optimize performance when training and competing in the heat. Part one focused on the benefits of heat acclimatization on thermoregulation for optimal performance, but proper hydration can truly make or break an athlete come game day. In this article, I will discuss why hydration is so important and then provide simple hydration strategies before, during, and after exercise.

4 Steps to Better Championship Preparation

Championship season is the time of year when you put even more focus into swimming your fastest. As the physical demand of training lightens, how you manage the remaining hours in your day becomes more critical. Making your meets a priority doesn’t mean skirting other responsibilities—it just means planning ahead and practicing your best habits outside of the pool. Here are four ways to optimize your time as you prepare for a championship:

The BridgeAthletic Building Block Series is a set of 5 exercises that can be performed by swimmers of all levels on the pool deck.

Welcome to our series of swim building blocks. This edition will focus on breaststroke-specific exercises to fine-tune your body position and power in the water. Add these exercises to your power days in the pool and focus on them through the off-season to come back stronger and ready to push hard going into next season.

In elite competition, the pool of athletes at the top is small, the margins of improvement narrow. What more can you do to maximize your performance when changes in your training and recovery methods are so incremental? Turn to your nutrition—the aspect of performance with a constantly evolving landscape. As research continues to inform our recommendations, it is up to you to determine your nutritional needs and how to obtain them. Let’s dive into what you need to know now.

Recovery is one aspect of sports that separates the elite athletes from the rest. The best athletes dedicate time and attention to their recovery, not just in the minutes following competition or training but also in the other 20+ hours of the day. Proper recovery demands a multifaceted approach ranging from the passive components like sleep and stretching to active components of rehydration, refueling, and foam rolling. To be successful, you must treat your recovery with the same attitude as in training: set goals and be consistent. Let’s touch on the primary pillars of recovery that you’ll use to hit peak performance day after day.

Part I: Heat Acclimatization

As the summer temps heat up, so does the competition. With so many high stakes national and international events taking place this summer, athletes are feeling the pressure of competition. If that wasn’t enough, add the environmental demands of heavy, suffocating humidity or that blinding, blistering sun. In this two-part series, I hope to provide some insight into how you can beat the heat and (hopefully) your competition starting with heat acclimatization education and strategies (part I) followed by proper hydration and cooling methods and how to recognize early signs of heat exhaustion, a potentially dangerous clinical scenario (part II).

All successful performance starts with clearly written goals. The greatest athletes in the world have an established system in place that helps them plan for growth and improvement in their sport. Developing your own improvement plan through appropriate goal-setting is a fundamental step on your athletic journey that will help you know you are on course to achieve your performance potential.

Whether we're competing in front of 150 or 15,000 people, that’s not why we compete or what truly makes us nervous. Let’s turn our attention inward, to the swimmer’s mind in the moments preceding the big race, and discuss how to channel your energy in the right direction. 

You’ve arrived on the big stage. Now what? Unless you’ve been competing for gold before, this is probably the biggest meet of your life. At first, it may seem as if the lights are all brighter and the other swimmers are all bigger, stronger, and faster than you imagined. Don’t let these distractions and worries get into your head. Take these first 24 hours to settle in. The more you’re able to replicate your home training environment and schedule, the better you'll perform come race day.