Nutrition for Swimmers and Divers 
                                                            Before, During, and After 
                                                           What should I eat?  When?
         Practice                                                                   Competition 
                                                                                 
      Before                                                                    Before 
          •    Water                                                                 •   Eat 2-4 hours before an event 
          •    Granola Bar                                                           •   Water 
          •    Banana or other fresh fruit                                           •   Small amount of protein and fat 
          •    Toast / Bagel / Peanut Butter                                         •   Oatmeal 
          •    Crackers / Chips (multi-grain or whole grain,                         •   Cold cereal 
               baked)                                                                •   Whole wheat bagels 
          •    Yogurt with granola                                                   •   Bananas or other fresh fruit 
          •    Etc.                                                                  •   Peanut butter 
                                                                                     •   Low fat cheese 
      *Foods with a lot of fat or fiber can be very                                  •   Low fat yogurt with granola 
      difficult and slow to digest and remain in the                                 •   Baked potato 
      stomach a long time. Meats, doughnuts, fries,                                  •   Cereal with skim milk 
      potato chips, and candy bars should be avoided in a                            •   Pasta with tomato sauce 
      pre-exercise meal.                                                             •   Etc. 
                                                                                 
                                                                                 
      During                                                                    During 
          •    Water                                                                 •   Water  
                                                                                     •   Sports drinks 
                                                                                     •   Easily digestible high carbohydrate foods 
      After                                                                          •   Crackers, bagels, etc. 
          •    Water                                                                 •   Energy bars 
          •    Recovery meal (see chart on back) or snack                            •   Bananas, fruit 
          •    Chocolate Milk                                                             
          •    Granola Bar                                                      After 
          •    Toast / Bagel / Peanut Butter 
          •    Fresh fruits/vegetables                                               •   Eat within 30-60 minutes after an event to 
          •    Crackers / Chips (multi-grain or whole grain/                             help repair damaged muscles and glycogen 
               baked)                                                                    stores 
          •    Etc.                                                                  •   Water 
                                                                                     •   Recovery meal (see chart) 
      **Athletes should ALWAYS pack some sort of                                     •   Yogurt with fruit 
      “recovery” food/snack in their swim bags to eat on 
      the way home from practice.                                                    •   Chocolate milk 
                                                                                     •   Almonds 
                                                                                     •   String cheese 
                                                                                     •   Pita with hummus 
                                                                                     •   Peanut butter with banana 
                                        
              Recovery Meal Options (4:1 ratio) 
                                   
          Food       Calories   Carbs     Protein    Ratio 
         Choices                  (g)       (g)     (Carbs: 
                                                    Protein) 
        Oatmeal-8      136        32         8        4.0:1 
           oz. 
       Yogurt (plain,  159       22.5       6.5       3.5:1 
       lowfat, 6 oz.) 
         & ½ cup 
       blueberries 
       Almonds (12)     161       19         4       4.75:1 
        & medium 
          orange 
         1 cup of      189       34.3      8.75       3.9:1 
        chocolate 
       milk & ½ cup 
       raspberries 
          String       196       30.3       7.6       4.0:1 
         cheese                                          
       (mozzarella, 
        low fat) & 
        large apple 
        Multigrain     226        43       10.5       4.1:1 
        Cheerios (1 
        cup), skim 
       milk & ½ cup 
       strawberries 
       Whole wheat     272      43.95      10.95      4.0:1 
       pita (large) & 
          ¼ cup 
         hummus 
         5 wheat       272       34.2       9.2       3.7:1 
      crackers with 
           1 oz. 
        mozzarella 
        cheese & 1 
         medium 
         banana 
       Whole wheat     343       67.1      18.8       3.6:1 
       pasta (1 cup) 
        with 1 oz. 
          grilled 
        chicken & 1 
         cup corn 
         banana        348        43        11        3.9:1 
         (small),                                        
          peanut                                         
        butter (2                                        
        tbsp.) & 2                                       
        brown rice                                       
          cakes