7 Biggest Mistakes Swimmers Make Before a Championship Meet

The swimming taper is a complex, scientific, precise thing. Then again, we’re not all collegians or Olympians, so for some of us, it’s very simple. Regardless, there are a few major mistakes that swimmers at every level frequently make just prior to big Championship meets, from summer league to NCAA’s. You’ll see a pretty common theme in this list, which is don’t change anything major. Many swimmers try to outsmart the taper, but it can’t be done, and usually results in bad swims. The Championship meet is not a place to try out new techniques, strategies, or anything else.

1. Changing your diet right before the meet-The biggest question I get asked before every championship meet is “what should we eat the night before? Pasta, right?” Well, no, not exactly. The ideal diet is well beyond the scope of this article, and there are many good resources on the topic, but the worst thing you can do is to change your diet right before a big meet. The human body gets into routines, and likes habits. In a sport like swimming, that is so heavily dependent on these routines, keep your diet, eating habits, meal times, etc. as close to normal as possible. The time to change any bad eating habits is at the beginning of the season, not the end.

2. Changing your gear-This one can be tough. Championship suits only maintain their hold and fit for a very limited number of races, so unless you have a big sponsor backing you (which most of us don’t) it’s hard to test these suits out prior to big meets. But there are some things that are easier to control. Settle on a pair of goggles (and a fit, for that matter) at least 2-3 meets before a championship. Make sure your regular race suit is tight-fitting, so you get used to the compression feeling. Don’t make your championship meet the first one you wear a cap at. Then you can play around with wearing your goggles over or under your cap, latex or silicone, and so-on.

3. Not warming up enough- Swimmers can become really paranoid at ruining their tapers in their warm up. But if you don’t do enough of a warm up, your body won’t be properly prepared to reach top speeds, regardless of how awesome your taper was. And make sure that you sprint at least 3 times during the warm-up. I typically have my swimmers run some breakouts, where they will focus on the streamline and the first few explosive strokes, then shut it down and coast into the wall.

4. Changing practice times drastically- Sometimes coaches like to change practice times, or even give swimmers days off, when approaching championship meets. 30 minutes here or there is fine, but changing practice times drastically (or giving days off) is a mistake. What usually ends up happening is that the swimmers natural sleep rhythm causes them to wake up at roughly the same time anyways. However, knowing that they will be able to sleep in the next morning, many swimmers will stay up later the night before (especially in older swimmers). By the time the actual championship meet rolls around, swimmers’ sleep cycles are way out of whack, and the swimmers are lethargic and flat. Not good news for their performance.

5. Sleeping right up until the start of the meet- Often times, championship meets start in the late morning. Especially at levels like summer league, the meets can start as late as noon. As was mentioned in number 4, this can throw off a swimmer’s rhythm. But to compound things, many times, swimmers decide to sleep until the very last minute, wake up, and rush to warmups. It takes time for your body to wake up and be ready to go, and you need to give your body enough time to digest your breakfast. If you ever have a stomach ache at an early morning meet, this is probably a good reason why.

6. Laying out in the sun- Ok, this might seem silly, but many times, the week leading up to a championship meet results in a lot of extra free time for a swimmer. Especially during the summer season, this might seem like a good time to even out those awful 1-piece tans. Don’t do it, the sun will sap all of your energy and leave you groggy for the big day.

7. Loading up on energy drinks before races- It’s the end of the season. Last race. Nothing to save your energy for, nothing hold back. So let’s load up on 5-hour energies and Red Bulls to make sure we suck every ounce of effort out of our bodies. Wrong. If you’re not used to taking these supplements, all they’re going to do is make you sick. If these are something you’re interested in getting in to, you need to: number 1, check with a professional to make sure you’re using them the right way, because odds are your swim coach doesn’t know, and number 2, get your body used to it at less meaningful meets.

What are some mistakes that you or your swimmers have made right before a Championship meet? Leave them in the comments, and if we really like them, we’ll add them to our list.