News & Tips

Fuel your body

Which energy-rich foods will help you swim for longer, and which are best avoided? We reveal how to eat smart, before and after your swimming session. Experts agree that the right food can be vital in improving energy levels and performance. Set yourself up for peak performance with our tips on what to eat before and after your swim training.

Competing or for fitness? What you should eat before and after a swim depends on whether you’re swimming competitively or for general fitness. Competitive swimmers need to eat foods that release their energy progressively in order to help them keep going. If you’re swimming for fitness, however, you may want to opt for an easily digestible low-fat pre-swim meal.

Foods to eat before a swim Foods that are rich in carbohydrates are a great source of energy. By eating a small amount of carbs before you hit the pool, you’ll benefit from a slow release of energy while you swim, helping you to keep going for longer. Just ensure you leave plenty of time to eat (up to an hour, ideally) before you jump in the pool, to avoid feeling bloated.

Try these great pre-swim options:

- Pasta and wholemeal rice, in small quantities, will ensure you get a great range of carbohydrates, allowing you to concentrate on your swim. Eat alongside fruit, such as bananas, which are a great source of potassium.

- Always have a drink to hand so you can stay hydrated, and don’t forget to take on fluids, even during your swimming session.

Foods to avoid before your swim:

Fatty foods are harder for your stomach to digest and, as a result, can lead to indigestion and discomfort during your swim.

Foods to eat after a swim Aim to replenish lost nutrients and refuel your body in the first 20-30 minutes after your swim this is especially important if you’re a long distance swimmer as your body needs help to recover. If you’re swimming in the morning, keep a selection of healthy snacks with you to munch on throughout the day in order to prevent energy dips.

Great food options for after your swim

Snacks: Recovery drinks help replenish a mix of carbohydrates, meanwhile protein bars and fruit are handy snacks to have to hand before a substantial meal.

Other healthy – and tasty – options for your main meal include wholegrain pasta, fresh fruit and low-fat yoghurt.

Main meals: Incorporating protein into your meal will help muscle repair and replenishment – think fish, lean chicken, turkey and beef, eggs and low-fat cheese.

Other healthy – and tasty – options for your main meal include wholegrain pasta, fresh fruit and low-fat yoghurt.

Swim with good technique

Maintain the best possible technique at all speeds during a workout. If you ry to go fast with bad technique, you are wasting energy; it might still be a good fitness workout and burning plenty of calories and your heart rate is getting up but you are not improving your technique and becoming a better swimmer. Teach yourself to go fast while using your best possible technique, you will make bigger gains.

Nutritional Facts for Teenagers

The teenage years cover a whole range of people from age 11 – 19, who are growing at different rates and times, involved in various levels of activity and who are different heights and weights. This affects the types and amounts of nutrients you will need for a healthy body. Your lifestyle might be changing as well - a different school, different family circumstances, leaving home, starting work or tertiary education, which can affect the foods you eat.

Important nutrients for teenagers

Calcium

Your body is building its skeleton while you’re a teenager. To make it as strong as possible, you need to eat foods rich in calcium. Choose dairy products, including low fat milk, yoghurt, cheese, eating 2-3 serves every day.If you don’t eat dairy foods, other good sources of calcium are calcium-fortified soy milk, canned fish (eg. salmon or sardines), certain nuts (eg. almonds, hazelnuts), dried beans & peas (eg. chickpeas, kidney beans), lentils and wholegrain breads & cereals (eg wholegrain bread, brown rice, porridge).If you drink soft drinks, try replacing one or two each day with water or milk (which has calcium and other valuable nutrients).Try smoothies (made in a blender with trim milk, yoghurt and fruit) for breakfast or a snack – they tick the boxes for calcium, fruit, and taste.

Iron

Teenage girls in particular need to include iron rich foods in their diet as they need more iron from food to replace what’s lost during their periods. If not, low levels of iron in the blood can leave you looking pale and feeling tired and lethargic. Lean meat, chicken, fish and seafood have higher levels of the haem iron, which is absorbed best by the body.Eggs, nuts, seeds, dried beans,(eg baked beans, chickpeas) and lentils also contain iron. Eating two serves from this food group every day, plus choosing wholegrain breads and breakfast cereals, will help you get enough iron.Eat foods with vitamin C with your meals to help increase the absorption of iron.

Nutritious snacks

As you are growing, you may also need snacks for an energy boost or to combat hunger between meals. Choose ones which are going to give you what you need. Fruit, a handful of nuts, a pottle of yoghurt or an extra sandwich are all good options. If you go for chocolate or chips, choose the smaller or ‘snack’-sized options and make the most of it, savouring the taste! After school, work or during the evening after tea, a bowl of cereal with low-fat milk, toast or a fruit smoothie can make great snacks.

Plenty of fluids every day

Drink water throughout the day to quench your thirst and make it easier to concentrate on your studies or while enjoying activities. Squeeze a dash of lemon juice or add a splash of fruit juice to water for a bit of extra flavour. Soft drinks and energy drinks are full of sugar (and kilojoules/calories) and are best kept for special occasions, not everyday, and choose the small drink container size.

- Nutrition Foundation NZ - 

Surf Lifesaving: Mount lifesavers make history

Bay of Plenty Times 8:01 AM Thursday Oct 8, 2015

Mount Maunganui's champion surf lifesavers have created more history, taking their club to the national pool rescue title held in Auckland. Mount won the Paul Kent Memorial Trophy, testing the swimming and pool-rescue skills of nearly 600 athletes from 33 New Zealand clubs for the first time, dominating the three-day carnival and finishing with 127 points. That put them 40 points clear of second-placed Mairangi Bay, with defending champions Papamoa third on 81.

It comes just seven months after Mount's incredible win at the beach nationals in Gisborne, where they stormed to their third consecutive overall points win and held aloft the Alan Gardner Trophy for the sixth time in the past nine years. They are the first club in history to hold the beach and pool-based national titles. Young and old contributed to the win, with 14-year-old Lochlainn O'Connor picking up 10 medals, five gold and five silver and national records in the 100m rescue medley, 50m swim with fins and 4x25m manikin relay.

His 16-year-old teammate, Libby Bradley, nabbed a New Zealand record in the 100m rescue medley, with her 1m 19.69s time taking nearly 2secs off the old mark, and adding gold in the 200 obstacles swim and bronze in the 50 manikin carry and 100 manikin carry with fins. A big contingent of Mount masters athletes also won plaudits for their poolside efforts, keeping the competition on schedule by helping with safety and logistics.

Bradley, a star age group swimmer for the Greerton Swim Club, said the Mount team spirit provided an amazing lift throughout the weekend. "It was great to come out of the pool and be greeted by excited and supporting teammates," she said. "It really added to the buzz." O'Connor is excited to get the chance to take his pool form on to the sand for the upcoming season. "One of my favourite sayings is 'hard work always pays off' and there was certainly a lot of hard work going into the weekend from the whole squad," O'Connor said. "It's great to see it paying off and now we're keen to work equally hard on the beach this summer." His performances over the weekend have also seen O'Connor added to the New Zealand Youth Squad, alongside Oscar Williams (Whangamata), Jenna Barrett (New Plymouth Old Boys), Alaynah Bettany (Lyall Bay) and Jessica Blakeman (Midway).

Papamoa's Jacob Hales was added to the New Zealand open squad after a strong performance in the under-19s. -Papamoa's Natalie Peat is one of eight athletes selected to represent New Zealand at European pool competitions next month. The team was announced at the NZ Pool Championships.

- Bay of Plenty Times -

FINIS Announces Release of the Axis Buoy

FINIS, Inc., a worldwide leader in technical swimming development, is proud to announce the release of the Axis Buoy, a dual-function pull buoy. After more than a year of research and development, FINIS is releasing the much-anticipated product to the market. The device can be used as a traditional buoy, which isolates the legs and utilizes the core and upper body muscles, but it also can be used as an ankle float. Using the Axis Buoy as an ankle float encourages better body alignment and more horizontal body position on the surface of the water, which helps to increase stroke efficiency. 

“It’s great, the device is interchangeable and makes it easier to focus on body line in the water.” –Roy Burch, FINIS Elite, Two-Time Olympian

The Axis Buoy takes a traditional tool and gives it a modern twist to help swimmers of all ages and abilities.

“The Axis Buoy is so great because it is a tool that can be used by every swimmer. The time and thought that went into making this product is a testament to our great team here at FINIS and I truly believe that the Axis Buoy is going to change the world of swimming.” –John Mix, CEO, FINIS, Inc. 

The Axis Buoy is made of durable EVA foam that doesn’t itch and cause irritation. The ergonomically design allows the device to be easily moved from the upper legs to the ankles.

 

Kick Technique and Leg Strength - FINIS Alignment Kickboard