When most people think of a swimmer, they think of someone who strictly trains in water, but in swimming, there is much to do outside the pool that swimmers participate in to stay in shape.
“During the school season, I usually do more than just regular practices. I may lift weights, stretch at home, work on recovery, and sometimes do extra swimming or cardio to stay competitive and improve performance,” said senior Jack Hildreth.
Training outside the pool adds skills to a swimmer, which allows them to stay strong and fit when it is time to swim.
“I do train outside of normal practice, I do strength training, after morning weights and practice, at home,” said senior Jessica Tracy.
Many swimmers spend their free time getting extra reps and training in, which really improves their performance in the water.
“My teammates and I try to weight lifts outside of practice hours as much as possible,” said junior Eli Robbeloth.
If a swimmer is involved in a school and a club team, their free time is super limited and many choose to spend more on improving their performance. A club team is a privately organized team that includes people from different schools, rather than focusing on one school.
“I have practices and meets throughout the high school off season on a club team. We train from the end of the season right to the beginning of the next,” said Robbeloth.
Being involved in two different swim seasons does not allow the swimmers to have much time to do anything else, so spending the extra time they have to continue to train is how the swimmers show their commitment.
Staying in shape outside of the season is important for swimmers to stay on track, even if it is not anything more than just swimming.
“I practice with my all year club team during off season to stay in shape,” said junior Riley Drummond.
Most swimmers are involved in both school and club, so they can extend their training and add to their skill set.
“During the off season I swim for Riverside Aquatics Club and do weights after practice to stay in shape,” said Tracy.
The swimmers utilize swimming for a school team and a team during the offseason to stay in shape, and both teams help the swimmers with a different aspect.
“ I swim both club and school. Club season helps me improve my technique and conditioning year-round, while school season focuses more on racing, teamwork, and representing my school,” said Hildreth.
Swimming on both club and school teams is difficult, but it keeps the swimmer in season all year round. Swimming on a team comes with a commitment of being a good teammate and having to know how to work together.
“Having teammates is beneficial because swimming isn’t a very common sport and not many people in the school understand swimming but my teammates do,” said Drummond.
Teammates are the ones that are there to pick each other up when they are down and they push each other to work harder.
“Outside of regular season we practice in the same pool with the same coach. I really enjoy staying around my teammates year round, encouraging each other daily,” said Robbeloth.
Sticking with the same people also improves your performance as well as everyone’s connection with each other.
Another thing swimmers do outside the pool is change their diets during their season.
“My diet during the season increases greatly. With the amount of practices that we have, food is the only thing on our minds most of the time. It reduces after the season ends and switches to club,” said Robbeloth.
Swimmers burn lots of calories during practices and have to increase the amount of food they eat to keep their bodies healthy. Nutrition plays a big role in helping swimmers recover from big meets or practices and allows them to maintain their energy throughout the season.
“During the season I focus more on eating enough protein, carbs, and staying hydrated to fuel practices and meets. In the off-season, my diet is still healthy, but I may not eat as much since training intensity is lower,” said Hildreth.
Swimming is much more than what happens inside the pool and practice, it is about dedication and working extra during spare time to get better and advance. Training, diets, and teammates are what helps make a swimmer successful.
