What I Wish I Knew As A Young Swimmer

As a naturopath, clinical nutritionist and endurance athlete, I often find myself reflecting on my years as a competitive swimmer. Swimming taught me discipline. It taught me resilience. It taught me how to work hard when nobody was watching. It taught me what it feels like to chase goals that seem impossible. But it also taught me something else. There was so much I didn't know. Looking back now, with the knowledge I have as a practitioner, there are countless things I wish someone had sat me down and explained. Not because my coaches, parents or support network got it wrong. We simply didn't know what we know now. This article is about helping the next generation of athletes and their parents navigate sport with more knowledge, more awareness and hopefully better health. Because performance shouldn't come at the expense of wellbeing.

I Wish I Knew That Training Was Only Part Of The Equation

As a teenager, swimming wasn't just something I did. It was my life. Like many competitive swimmers, I trained before school and after school. Ten sessions per week was normal. Friday afternoons, Saturday afternoons and Sundays were generally our only time off unless we were competing at swimming carnivals. At the time, I thought success came down to one thing.

Train harder.

Train more.

Train harder than everyone else.

What I didn't understand was that training creates stress. It's recovery that creates adaptation. The body doesn't become stronger during training. It becomes stronger afterwards. And unfortunately, recovery was rarely a topic of conversation.

I Wish I Understood Under-Fuelling

One thing our family did really well was shifting dinner before training. Instead of eating after training, we ate beforehand so we had fuel available for the session. At the time, this felt like a game changer. And in many ways it was. The problem was what happened afterwards. Once training finished, we often didn't eat enough to properly recover before bed, we would have a piece of fruit on the drive home from training and then often have a treat like ice-cream or a packet of chips, in reality what we should have had was either more dinner - filled with protein, vegetables and clean carbohydrates or some rice cakes with some avocado, tuna or other protein and vegetables.

Because we weren’t fuelling properly after training, it meant we weren't adequately replacing energy stores, supporting muscle recovery or preparing for the next morning's session. Looking back, I was probably finishing many sessions with a significant energy deficit. In the mornings, I'd often grab a piece of fruit or a bowl of cereal before heading off to training, but after training I wouldn’t eat breakfast! Instead by my 2nd class at High School I was searching for my lunchbox and eating my vege sticks to try and tie me over to morning tea break (there was no such thing as a munch n crunch break back when I went to school!)

Today, knowing what I know now about athlete nutrition, I would take a very different approach. Not only because many breakfast cereals are highly processed and fortified with synthetic nutrients, but because young athletes often need significantly more fuel than they realise. I wish someone had explained that food wasn't something to fear.

Food was fuel.

Food was recovery.

Food was performance.

I Wish I Knew How Important Protein Was

When I was swimming competitively, carbohydrates were generally the focus. Protein was rarely discussed. Most young athletes know they need energy. Far fewer understand that they need building blocks.

Protein supports:

• Recovery

• Muscle repair

• Growth

• Adaptation to training

• Immune function

As a teenager, I certainly wasn't thinking about protein distribution across the day. Now I know that ensuring young athletes consume adequate protein at meals and snacks can make a significant difference to recovery and performance.

I Wish Someone Had Talked About Gut Health

As an athlete, I thought digestion was completely separate from performance. Now I know they are deeply connected. The gut influences:

• Nutrient absorption

• Immune health

• Energy production

• Inflammation

• Recovery

If your body cannot properly absorb nutrients, it becomes much harder to support training demands. If your gut and bowels are not working efficiently then you are not absorbing nutrients effectively. Many athletes spend thousands of dollars on supplements while ignoring the very system responsible for absorbing them. The gut isn't just about digestion. It's part of performance.

I Wish I Understood What Chlorine Was Doing To My Body

Competitive swimmers spend countless hours in chlorinated pools. At the time, I never questioned it. It's just part of the sport. Now, as a naturopath, I appreciate that regular chlorine exposure can place additional stress on the body. Many swimmers experience:

• Dry skin

• Irritated eyes

• Respiratory symptoms

• Sinus issues

• Altered microbiome function

• Increased oxidative stress

This doesn't mean swimming is harmful. Far from it. Swimming remains one of the most incredible sports available. But I do think swimmers can benefit from supporting recovery, hydration, antioxidant intake and overall health to help offset some of these exposures.

I Wish Body Image Had Been Discussed Differently

Sport can be an incredible environment for building confidence. Unfortunately, it can also expose young athletes to pressure around body image. Many athletes grow up believing that lighter automatically means faster. That leaner automatically means better. That thinner automatically means more successful. The reality is far more complex. The healthiest athlete is often the athlete who performs best over the long term.

Strength matters.

Recovery matters.

Fuel availability matters.

Hormonal health matters.

Our bodies are designed to support performance, not simply fit a certain appearance.

I Wish Someone Had Explained Period Health

As a teenager, I didn't understand that periods were a valuable indicator of health. In fact on my very 2nd cycle I went onto the pill so I could “control” my period around my swimming carnivals. I was so neglectful of my cycle I pretty much only allowed my body to have it twice a year when it suited me. Unfortuntely this is still a common occurance for young athletes.

The other factor that can occur with over training or lack of recovery with training is changes to the menstrual cycle, as a result, these are often dismissed as part of training rather than a result from over training and lack of recovery.

In reality though, having a healthy cycle can provide important information about our energy availability, recovery and hormonal health. Missing periods should never be viewed as a sign of athletic success. It's often a sign that the body is struggling to meet its needs. Today, one of the most important conversations I have with female athletes is helping them understand that their menstrual cycle is a health marker, not an inconvenience.

I Wish I Understood Burnout

Perhaps the biggest lesson of all. As a swimmer, I was constantly sick.

Colds.

Respiratory infections.

Chronic ear infections.

At the time, I assumed it was normal. Looking back, I can see that my body was under enormous pressure.

Training stress.

School stress.

Competition stress.

Early mornings.

Long days.

Recovery that probably wasn't adequate for the demands I was placing on my body. By the end of my swimming career I was burning the candle at both ends. My final 12 months of swimming I suffered from chronic ear infections, Every 2 weeks I was taking antibiotics, until in the end I became antibiotic resistant. I didn’t rest and recover when I had the ear infections, instead I had my coach set up an on land swimming station for me where I would still training 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours at night on a bench with resistance bands “swimming on land”.

Burnout rarely happens overnight. It develops slowly. And often the first signs appear long before an athlete realises what's happening. Persistent fatigue. Frequent illness. Reduced motivation. Poor recovery. Heavy legs. Difficulty sleeping. Many athletes assume they need to train harder. Often they need the opposite, what they bneed is:

More fuel.

More recovery.

More support.

What I Hope The Next Generation Of Athletes Learns

If I could sit down with every young swimmer, runner, triathlete or athlete today, I'd tell them this:

Your health matters.

Your recovery matters.

Your nutrition matters.

Your hormones matter.

Your gut health matters.

Your sleep matters.

Your body is not a machine. It's a living, adapting system that requires support if you want it to perform at its best.

The goal shouldn't be to simply survive training. The goal should be to thrive through it.

As parents, coaches and practitioners, we have an opportunity to help young athletes develop habits that support not only performance today, but health for decades to come. And if sharing my experiences helps even one young athlete avoid some of the mistakes I made, then those early mornings in the pool were worth it.

Supporting Young Athletes Beyond Training

Whether your child is a swimmer, runner, triathlete or participates in club sport, nutrition plays a critical role in supporting growth, recovery, energy and performance. If you'd like support navigating athlete nutrition, recovery, iron status, gut health or overall performance, we'd love to help. Because healthy athletes make stronger athletes.