Swim parents are the backbone of every swimmer. As a swim parent, I have much more of an appreciation for the swim parents in the stands of the Olympics. The early morning wake ups, the long drives to practice, and the late evenings at the pool. Until your swimmer can drive, you are their personal taxi driver. And we do it willingly with love.
It’s not all about the driving, there is food involved…so.much.food. Dang, swimmers can eat. It is an everyday challenge to keep the house stocked with healthy food. There is so much noise on what to eat, what not to eat, and which diet will propel your kid to swimming stardom. Note – your child does not need the reported 12,000 calories that Michael Phelps ate during Olympic training.
You do need to offer healthy food and this is the best time to let your child start to listen to their body – what better way to instill lifelong eating habits.
Planning healthy snacks for your swimmer depends on so many variables. Morning or evening practice? Hot or cold? Young swimmer or teen swimmer? Short or long practice? All of these factors (and more) will determine your swimmers desire for snacks.
Luckily, I was able to get some preferences from young current swimmers who take their snacking seriously. These are just enough to give them energy for practice, but hopefully won’t be sloshing around in their gut during their warm-up. Each swimmer handles pre-swim food differently, so let them try different foods, flavors, and textures and find the ones that work the best for them.
Smoothies
Smoothies are great before practices at all hours of the day. Especially on a hot day, a smoothie provides not only good nutrition, but the hydration most swimmers need, but rarely notice. The vitamin C in fruit is beneficial for your swimmer to help repair muscle, boost their immune system, and give them more energy. Eva, age 11, loves a peanut butter and banana smoothie with milk and a bit of Nutella.
Snack Ideas for this Category
- Homemade Smoothies, like this Healthy Green Smoothie
- Yogurt Drinks
- Store Bought Smoothies
Fresh Fruit
Fresh fruit is always a good option for any snack. You don’t have to worry about the fiber in the fruit working too quickly on your swimmer’s digestive system. They will be happy for that extra fiber later on. Like the smoothies, fresh fruit like watermelon, strawberries, and oranges work for hydration too. Grapes are a favorite for Lily, 13. She loves them for pre-practice, after practice, and for swim meets.
Anika, 12, loves yogurt with fruit for her pre-practice snack. If you choose a greek yogurt, your swimmer will get a significant amount of protein to keep them full and it’s okay to choose a flavored yogurt – look for one with 6 grams or less of added sugar, or less than 12 total – because about 6 of those will be natural sugars from the milk.
Snack Ideas for this Category
- All fresh fruit – one serving is 1/2 cup or 1 piece of medium sized fruit
- Fruit and yogurt parfaits like this Fruit and Vanilla Yogurt Parfait.
- Apples with nut butter
- Plain yogurt
- Yogurt with nuts
- Dried fruit – raisins, cherres, apricot, plums
- Freeze dried fruit
Energy Bites
You may have seen these in the grocery store, but they are a cinch to make. Really. You can throw pretty much a mixture of a few ingredients together and roll into a ball, throw in the fridge, and they will be ready for your swimmer. Ella, 11 loves peanut butter balls. Any mixture of nut butter, oats, honey, and flaxseed meal rolled up with some optional ingredients like dried fruit, rice cereal, and mini chocolate chips.
Give your swimmer 3 or 4 bites with some water and they will feel satisfied and hydrated before practice. They might even want a few after practice…and that’s okay. Check out this recipe here if you want to try your hand at making them. Peanut Butter and Oat Energy Bites
Snack Ideas for this Category
- Energy Bites
- Granola Bars
- Cereal and Milk
Hummus
Blythe, 13 is big fan of chocolate hummus and pretzels before practice – I mean, who wouldn’t be? That sounds like the perfect snack. Haven’t heard of chocolate hummus? It is actually made from garbanzo beans, like regular hummus, so you get plant protein with this. You also give your swimmer extra carbs from the pretzels and the chocolate hummus.
If your store doesn’t carry chocolate hummus, you can make your own, or you can use regular hummus. Try this recipe here if you’d like to try your skills at it: Chocolate Dessert Hummus
Snack Ideas for this Category
- Chocolate hummus and pretzels
- Hummus and veggies (carrots, radishes, celery, cucumbers)
- Pretzels and nut butter
Cheese Sticks
Cheese is a favorite of swimmers. It’s portable, easily digested (for most) and most kids like it. You don’t get a lot of carbohydrates from cheese – which you need for energy – so pair it with something else. Cassie, 10, from Illinois loves to eat toast with peanut butter and a cheese stick. She definitely will have enough energy to successfully make it through a practice.
Snack Ideas from this Category
- Cheese and crackers
- Toast with PB and a cheese stick
- Tomato and mozzarella kabobs on a toothpick