Swimmers use performance-scientists in order to be the best competitors they can be. This means (in addition to working with an excellent technical coach) they aim to maximise their possible number of training days, enhance the quality of training and competition and develop their emotional skills to increase the chance of them being able to produce their best performance when it counts the most.
Swimmers enhance their week’s work with their coach by accessing a range of service in sports-medicine (provided by a doctor, physiotherapist and soft-tissue therapist), strength and conditioning (including acrobatic preparation), psychology, nutrition, biomechanics and performance lifestyle.
Visit our Off The Blocks microsite to find resources for athletes and coaches across a variety of subjects: https://offtheblocks.info
Strength and Conditioning
Historically competitive swimmers have trained to improve swim performance by swimming frequently, for long durations at various intensities. Recently elite swimmers have looked outside the pool for training methods which may offer additional benefits to performance beyond those which can be gained from swimming alone.
Injury Prevention
Physiotherapy within elite sport is increasingly changing focus away from an Injury management focus to a more performance enhancement focus. Indeed within Swimming as with many sports, the very things we aim to improve to help treat injuries are also the things that help enhance physical performance capability.
Nutrition
Performance nutrition is important to help your immune system, help adaptations to training and help your performance on a competition day. Focusing on the quality and quantity of the food you eat is key!
Across British Swimming, and within each discipline specifically, groups comprising sports science and sports medicine experts have looked in detail at the subject of weight management, and have subsequently developed a British Swimming position statement on this topic. This is a performance area that is individualised to the athlete, with valuable input from the athlete themselves being central to the process.
Separately to the British Swimming-specific policy, the Swim England position statement on weighing athletes, released in December 2021, is fully supported by British Swimming. British Swimming collaborated with Swim England, our other Home Nation partners and key specialists on this specific piece of work.
