Competitive swimming is not just about turning up at the pool, jumping into your cossie and diving in.<\/p>\n
Whether you are elite end or club level, just starting out or well established, what you do outside the water has a huge impact on what happens in the water. Both physical and psychologically.<\/p>\n
Jon Rudd knows all about each component and their individual significance in adding up to a whole, much like the cogs in a wheel.<\/p>\n
One of the world\u2019s top coaches, he was presented with Ruta Meilutyte, just 12-years-old and homesick for Lithuania, and within three years Rudd had moulded what was initially an unwilling student into an Olympic champion.<\/p>\n
He also took on Ben Proud, a 16-year-old who arrived in Plymouth from Malaysia, all raw talent not long out of training in board shorts.<\/p>\n
The workload came as a shuddering shock to Proud but in 2014 he became the Commonwealth 50m freestyle and butterfly champion.<\/p>\n
While the two athletes already had the raw material, talent and single-mindedness, it was up to Rudd to fine tune the pair who had a combined age of 28 when they came to him.<\/p>\n
Rudd says: \u201cIt\u2019s the physical and mental state of the athlete.”<\/p>\n
\u201cA swimmer\u2019s life isn\u2019t just swimming and you have to balance family, school, social life, boyfriends and girlfriends. All those things that can change the psychological state of your athlete as they walk through the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rudd also shares his thoughts on other elements that make up a swimmer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say there are lifestyle choices: it\u2019s around nutrition as much as it is around the gym work and it is around the gym work being specific and relevant to what it is you are trying to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n
NUTRITION<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing anybody should be considering is comfort eating and eating for pleasure so confectionery, processed sugar foods and processed fatty foods. There is no need for them to be in your diet other than they taste nice and you enjoy them. And an athlete of any description whether high end or county standard needs to consider what it is they are putting in their mouths and what the reason is.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, what is there in your daily eating plan that is there just because you like it and it tastes nice?<\/p>\n \u201cThe second thing people need to consider really carefully is the amount of carbohydrate in their diets because it is carbohydrates that if they are not utilised as an energy source the body turns them into fat and stores them.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd sometimes with the amount of carbohydrates that I see children eat on a day to day basis there is no way they can do the amount of training in a day that would be necessary to utilise all that carbohydrate. So things like bread in particular but pasta, rice and potatoes \u2013 those kind of core carbohydrates that fill us up and make us feel satisfied after a meal because our tummies are full. Those are the things we need to treat cautiously.<\/p>\n \u201cIf swimmers are still hungry in reducing the amount of carbohydrate then they replace that with additional protein or additional fruit and vegetables or additional salad. So instead of one chicken breast and a big pile of potatoes the ideal thing would be to reduce the pile of potatoes and eat two chicken breasts.<\/p>\n \u201cCarbohydrates are relatively cheap to put in front of people and proteins tend to be more expensive so there is a cost implication with that kind of diet.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the key message would be consider carefully comfort eating and the amount of carbohydrates you are eating and look to increase your protein content. And make sure you are eating plenty of fresh vegetables, fresh fruit and good salad.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat nutrition is breadth and balance.\u201d<\/p>\n