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• Feature: Food & Nutrition for swimmers
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Welcome to our first newsletter after the summer break which I hope you all enjoyed and are back with renewed energy for the second half of the year.

To start I would like to say a big thank you to Chris as he steps down as Editor and to Maggie for taking up the challenge. If anyone has any ideas of items they would like to see included or something you wish to share then please speak to Maggie.

Past issues are available to download from the Website at www.swiminverleith.com

Can I just remind everyone as to how important it is to check your e-mails and the notice board regularly for any updates.

The Club continues to attract new swimmers and we are always happy to welcome new faces. If you know of anyone thinking about Club swimming they can contact me by phone or e-mail me direct or via the website (0131 554 0914, kathypitcher@yahoo.co.uk).

Parents can get involved in various ways so if you have any spare time then please have a chat with us and see which would suit you best. All Clubs rely on volunteers and we are no exception.

Dates for your diary:

• Annual General Meeting 28th November Venue TBC  
• Club Championships 8th December at Leith Academy 09.30am

Kathy

Tom Watson retires from coaching

Most of you will have heard that Tom has decided after 35 years to retire. Thankfully he has not severed all his ties with the Club and will continue as Learn To Swim co-ordinator.

He will be spending his time on his own leisure pursuits rather than visiting Edinburgh Leisure venues.

My first contact with Tom was 21 years ago when I had a very timid 5 year old terrified of water. Tom didn’t take the lesson which was just as well as he frightened the living daylights out of him and if I’m honest.....me too.

That didn’t last for long, for either of us, especially after finding out they shared the same birthday.

Tom has been a driving force during his time with the Club and has given up many hours over and above coaching sessions to attend training camps both here and abroad. I’m sure his car could find its own way to the training and competition pools.

I’m sure he would tell you it is hard enough dealing with the swimmers but then there are the parents too. One incident springs to mind when a parent was so busy talking to another that they missed the turn off for Kirkcaldy and ended up in Perth! What can you say! Tom just took it in his stride, remained calm and probably said a silent prayer that they would make it back in time. It must have worked because they did and got medals to prove it. Tom could probably write a book full of incidents like that.

How he ever put up with the sleepy-eyed swimmers at early morning training at Fettes is a mystery to me. Driving them there was bad enough.

Tom has always gone that extra mile to help those who wished to go further in their swimming career and encouraged others to get involved with coaching or teaching.

On behalf of the Committee, I hope he has a long and happy retirement and remembers that he was very much appreciated by all who came into contact with him.

Hopefully we’ll see him at the Club Championships on 8 December if not before.

Kathy


Coaching

Fiona Anderson has agreed to head up the coaching staff now that Tom has retired. During the 35 years Fiona has been with the club, she has taken on many roles so this will be another string to her bow.

Lana Borwick has returned from Camp America with renewed enthusiasm and will be coaching the Advanced Squad.

Norma


Know your PBs

The coaches are very keen that all swimmers are aware of the Personal Best Times (PBs). Whenever you swim in a competition, you should be aiming to improve your PB as this is the best measure of your own progress.

To help you do this, you should have received a spreadsheet via email which details all of your times for each stroke where you have swum in a timed competition. Simply scroll down the sheet until you find your name and then read along the top to find the strokes and distances.

We have also included the current club records so you know what sort of time you should be aiming for. We have shown who holds the current record and when it was set and there are some names which everyone will recognise from the current squads - as well as Louise who coaches the Prep Group.

As well as club records, we have also included the Scottish Open Championship results from 2012 to show what the best Scottish swimmers are doing and finally, the Olympic times set earlier this month. These times are there for your interest and information and to demonstrate what the very best in the world are achieving doing the same strokes and distances that you are swimming.

You may also see that there is an 'x' beside your time. This means that you were disqualified for a technical infringement during a race but your time was still captured.

We're going to keep this up to date and and it will be available on our website. To view click here

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please ask one of your coaches.

Grant

2012 Sponsored Walk

Once again we had a fine turn out for the event this year and we set off at around noon from Colinton village.

Despite the best efforts of Edinburgh Council to try and disrupt our preferred route by organising various flood prevention operations in tandem with the ubiquitous Tramworks we only required a couple of small detours in the end.

Well that is to say “most” of the walkers only took a couple of small detours. Sophie Hamilton and Ross Borwick meanwhile were away off on their own route somewhere up the town but we tracked them down eventually. No Map Readers badges for that pair! 

More walkers joined us at Murrayfield where the weather, unlike last year, was holding out for us. However at the Dean Village the river had burst its banks after the previous week’s rain and a quick detour up over the hill was required.

By about 3 o’clock everyone had arrived safely at the Scout Hut and the pies and sausage rolls were scoffed in double quick time. As was the home baking.

Games followed, with rounders/football, and the now annual limbo dancing contest.

Thanks to everyone who contributed in any way to help make the day a success, whether it was with home baking, helping dish out the food, or clearing up at the end. And in particular to David Little and Ross Inglis for helping plan out the route, setting up everything at the Scout Hut and cleaning up afterwards.

Thanks again.

Keith
Social Committee
 

Every swimmer knows the best way to improve is by training hard but there is also another way. That’s by eating the right foods to give you the energy for swimming. By fuelling your body in the right way before and after training you’ll perform better the next time you swim, whether it’s at training or in competitions. With good nutrition, experts reckon you can expect a 20% increase in performance.

Over the next few newsletters, we’ll be providing a special feature on food and nutrition for swimmers. This first article helps explain why it’s important for you to eat healthily.

Eating for swimming

Our bodies make energy from the different food groups we eat – carbohydrates, proteins and fat.  Eating the right amounts of carbohydrates, proteins and fat forms the basis of a healthy diet and provides us with enough energy we need to go about doing our daily activities. 

A swimmer’s diet is based on a healthy diet with a few differences. As a swimmer, what you eat should not just keep you healthy as you are growing - it should also be able to meet the needs of your body with the extra exercise you do. What you eat affects your ability to train, recover between training sessions and compete. 

For swimmers, carbohydrates are the most important type of food to eat because it is the easiest way of getting the energy you need when you swim. During a 90 minute training session your energy stores become depleted so you need to eat more carbohydrates to build up your energy levels. If you don’t, it will make you feel tired and slow down your recovery. This may affect how you swim next time because most of the energy needed for your swimming will actually be provided by what you have eaten hours and even days before. 

More about carbohydrates

Carbohydrates come in two forms – simple and complex. Complex carbohydrates provide the better source of energy for swimmers as the energy they give is released slowly throughout the day. Simple carbohydrates give you a quick burst of energy but this only lasts minutes and is not very helpful if you have a long training session or if you are competing in an all-day gala. 

Complex carbohydrates include food such as pasta, noodles, potato, rice, porridge and bread, whereas examples of simple carbohydrates include sweets, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, sugar and honey.

Protein & fat

Eating the right amount of protein and fat is important to keep you healthy.

Protein is important because it helps you grow, help your muscles get stronger and help repair your body after training. Protein-rich food include lean meat such as beef and lamb (trimmed of fat), chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, beans, lentils, nuts, soya and quorn. As well as supplying protein, they also provide good sources of vitamins and minerals.

You also need to eat a little bit of fat to stay healthy. Most of this can be provided by dairy products such as milk, cheese and yoghurt which also contain calcium to help strengthen and build bones, nuts and oily fish (sardines, mackerel, pilchards). 

Fatty and sugary foods such as cakes, sweets, biscuits, soft drinks) should be kept to a minimum as these are high in calories and do not provide you with the right sort of carbohydrates needed to build your energy. Too much fatty food can make you feel full and stop you from eating the extra amount of carbohydrate you actually need.

Eating fatty food before swimming is not recommended as it can make you uncomfortable and stop you from performing well.

Fruit & Veg

It goes without saying that you should eat lots of fruit and vegetables – at least 5 portions a day – to stay healthy. Fruit and veg give you the vitamins and minerals your body needs to work properly, grow and help your immune system fight infections.

Summary

Overall, you should aim to eat a well-balanced diet with enough energy especially from complex carbohydrates. This won’t make you become an Olympian but it will help you realise your potential and reach your goals.

In the next newsletter, Lana will explain the sorts of food and drink you should have before, during and after training and competitions. Fiona will also be providing recipes in future newsletters, so look out for those too.

Maggie
 

Some upcoming meets for Inverleith swimmers. Please check emails from Grant. Any problems on the day contact Fiona 07719 627719.

September

2nd September      Internal Anderson/Huntly Cup
8th September       Iain MacFaden Memorial Meet
23rd September     Haddington 100s

October

6/7th October        East District Time Trials
13th October         Hearts Premier Meet
27/28th October    Carnegie Winter Meet

November

3/4th November     East District Round 1
10th November      Lothian Graded Meet
17th November      Incas Sprint Gala

December

1/2nd December    East District Round 2
1/2nd December    Cumbernauld Winter Graded Meet

February 2013

2/3rd February       East District Round 3

For other meets and to check out past results, click here
 

The club shop has a small permanent stock of floats, pull buoys, goggles and fins along with suits in our Club yellow and black. Hats are always available too.

Old kit such as fins and Club t-shirts can be sold back to the shop for our second-hand resale.

We make a small profit on items sold that contributes to our Club funds so please support the Shop.

We are usually at Leith on Sundays or you can email us with your order. Payments are made on delivery as there is sometimes a delay if we do not have your item in our stock.

Prompt payment by cheque payable to IASC is appreciated so that we do not have to chase you. Please forward cheques to Kirsty/Craig Watkins, Judith Hetherington, Keith Inglis or one of the coaches please.

To place your order, contact Craig and Kirsty Watkins (craig.watkins@familywatkins.org.uk); Judith Hetherington (judithhetherington@blueyonder.co.uk)