HOW TO FUEL YOUR LONG-DISTANCE SWIM

Swimming in open water poses unique challenges in terms of energy needs. Read our guide to staying fuelled and hydrated on long-distance swims

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CARBS

When you exercise at high intensity, your body’s primary source of fuel is carbohydrate. At the beginning of an exercise session, this carbohydrate will mostly come from glycogen, stored in your muscles and liver. Roughly speaking, as long as you have eaten recently and sensibly, these stores will last for around 90 to 120 minutes before becoming depleted to such a level that your performance suffers. To continue swimming at high intensity, you need to eat or drink something with more carbohydrate. Energy gels are a convenient – but not the only – way to do this. They are usually supplied in waterproof sachets that are easy to carry (such as inside your costume or the sleeve of your wetsuit) and quick to consume. Solid food, on the other hand, can take too long to chew – and if you’ve ever tried chewing while swimming, you’ll know it isn’t easy.

WHY DO SWIMMERS USE ENERGY GELS?

Swimming presents a unique set of nutritional challenges compared to land-based endurance sports such as triathlon. “The practical ability to carry and consume carbohydrate rich foods to offset the threat of carbohydrate depletion is considerably difficult, requiring the swimmer to significantly reduce pace, or even come to a complete stop,” says Marcus Willday, Performance Director at TORQ. When racing or swimming long distances, energy gels provide a highly concentrated source of carbohydrate in a format that maximises its delivery. Take TORQ’s energy gels: a 45g sachet contains around 30g of carbohydrate containing the glucose derivative maltodextrin (for rapid absorption) and fructose, helping to maximise carbohydrate delivery and improve stomach comfort.

WHEN TO USE ENERGY GELS

For events or training sessions lasting less than one hour, you should not need anything. For an event lasting up to two hours, 30-60g of carbohydrate per hour should be sufficient. For longer events, the guidelines typically suggest 60-90g per hour, but note that your stomach may struggle with these higher amounts. Keep in mind that when swimming, it’s hard to completely empty a sachet, so you will get fewer carbs

than advertised. Also, note that these are the amounts required for high intensity exercise such as racing; you will need less at lower intensities.

WHAT ELSE TO LOOK FOR IN AN ENERGY GEL

For swimmers, key considerations are packaging (is it easy to open in the water), carbs per serving, and the taste, which can be very personal. In terms of the packaging, we like the sachets where the top is not completely removed; we don’t like to leave litter in the water and those tear-off tops are easy to drop. Bear in mind, too, many gels are intended to be taken with water and this may not be possible in some swimming scenarios.

HOW TO STAY HYDRATED

When you sweat, you lose electrolytes as well as water, which is why most sports drinks contain electrolytes. Drinking only water while exercising in hot conditions can result in hyponatremia – when the sodium level in your blood is too low. Including electrolytes may help prevent this. However, the situation in swimming is complex because your body is often being cooled by the water (so you sweat less), you may be accidentally swallowing salty sea water, and you probably drink less than you would while running or cycling. For gels that don’t have electrolytes, you may want to take them with an electrolyte drink.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CAFFEINE?

Some energy gels offer a secondary boost by adding caffeine, but it doesn’t suit everyone. If you want to use it in an event, test it in training first and monitor your intake. To put it in context, a single caffeinated TORQ gel has 89mg of caffeine, compared with 75mg in a Starbucks single espresso shot. “Caffeine is typically consumed during the latter stages of a swim session, when fatigue is starting to occur,” says Marcus. “Caffeine can help to reduce the rate of perceived exertion while also increasing alertness and improving decision making.”

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOUR BODY DOESN’T HAVE THE RIGHT FUEL?

If fuelling and hydration are neglected, you will soon feel the effects and your performance will be impacted. When meeting your body’s carbohydrate needs, consistency is key. “In order to sustain your energy and effort for long swims, you need to fuel consistently and avoid major ups and downs in calories and nutrition,” says marathon swimmer Sarah Thomas. “Having a good calorie intake keeps you fuelled and warm. If you crash and aren’t fuelling properly, you’ll end up super sore and depleted at the end, or even be forced to abandon your swim.”

FIND A ROUTINE THAT WORKS FOR YOU

Practice makes perfect, and this is definitely the case when finding out what works for your body. “Everybody is different and we all react differently to certain products.

Use your training swims to practice your nutrition, logging how you feel before and after and noting your recovery the following day,” says Sarah. “Follow your intuition; just because something works for me doesn’t mean it will work for you!”

Sarah also suggests keeping it simple, and having a clear, easy to follow plan written down in advance. After all, on very long swims it will be your crew who will manage your feeds. “Ask yourself: ‘How are they going to give this to me from a boat?’ Sandwiches are a nightmare, they get soggy. Small things can be hard to grasp if your hands are cold. So, plan ahead and practice.”

Produced with expert advice from Performance Director at TORQ Marcus Willday, marathon swimmer Sarah Thomas and Outdoor Swimmer Founder Simon Griffiths. Nutrition becomes more significant in longer events and we recommend you do extra research.