Eating well on competition day
What to eat, when, and why the plan matters more than the menu.
Eating & body image
Competition day is the worst possible day to try something new. The job of a race-day eating plan is not to be clever. It is to be boring, rehearsed, and already decided before you wake up.
Before you race
Three to four hours out, eat the meal you have eaten before every hard session this month. Familiar beats optimal. If the venue catering is a mystery, bring your own.
In the last hour, small and simple: a banana, a handful of crackers, a sports drink if you use one in training. Nothing you have not tried at least three times.
Rehearse
Eat the race-day plan on a hard training day first.
Pack
Bring what you need. Never rely on the venue.
Decide early
Write the plan down the night before, then stop thinking about it.
Between races
Most meets are long days with short races. The gap is where people get it wrong, either by grazing constantly or by forgetting to eat at all.
- Something small within thirty minutes of each swim
- Water steadily, not in gulps
- A proper meal if the gap is more than three hours
- Nothing new, ever, on the day