By Kelsey Lynch, Swimming World College Intern
An acrostic poem on how to have the best taper of your life:
T: TIMING.
First you must figure out when exactly the most appropriate time is for you to start your taper. Do you need one, two, or three weeks of taper? As you progress as a swimmer, you begin to understand how your body reacts to different amounts of taper. Everyone’s body works differently, so it’s important to recognize how your body feels with various taper schedules.
A: ALWAYS ACTIVE.
Sometimes swimmers think that taking days off from swimming helps you rest more during taper. The opposite is true- it is actually possible to get too much rest during taper. You must ensure that you’re getting in the pool every single day to get your heart rate up. Since you’ll be resting in the pool more, you don’t want to lose your endurance. This is also important because you want to be physically feeling the water consistently.
P: PICTURE YOUR RACES.
Visualization is so crucial to succeeding at your final meet. Picture yourself behind the blocks at your race. Listen to the noises that will be around you. Glance at your competition to your left and right. Conduct your pre-race rituals. Stare into the water ahead. Envision yourself diving into the glassy water and bursting through your perfected breakout. Visualize your whole race from start to finish over and over again.
This technique gives you the confidence you need to believe that there is no other way to swim your race than how you’ve pictured it countless times. Taper is a good time to visualize your races because you’ll have specific chances in your workout to race instead of two hours of pounding out hard work.
E: EAT WELL.
As a competitive swimmer, you should always be eating nutritious foods to sustain yourself, but during your taper you should be especially mindful of your choices. Your caloric intake should be brought down a bit because you’ll be swimming less yards each day. Another tip is to cut out sweets a week or two before your final meet. While cutting out four Oreos after dinner may not directly affect your 200-yard breaststroke a week later, it will certainly help you mentally—and we all know mastering the mental part is the toughest. When you’re behind the blocks you will have the confidence that you took exceptional care of your body for the past several weeks, and nothing will stop you.
In addition, drink as much water as possible (not just during your workout!). Always carry a refillable water bottle during the day to remind you to drink. If you find it hard to consume water when you don’t feel thirsty (feeling thirst is actually a late sign of dehydration), try adding fresh lemon juice for flavor.
R: REST.
This is the most important part of your taper. If you do nothing else on this list, you should at least get proper rest. Athletes should be getting at least eight hours of sleep, and during taper it’s essential that you try your best to get enough sleep each night. When you can, try to take small naps during the day to recharge. A nap around noon that’s just 15-30 minutes can boost your energy level and your mood in the back half of the day. If you have a lot of schoolwork, naps may be perfect for you so that you can stay up a bit later if you need to study. Try to distance yourself from your bright phone and television earlier on at night to make falling asleep easier.
Another important “R” is to RACE.
When your coach says to race a certain part of your taper workout, then do it. Racing specific sets should be taken seriously, because you’re resting in every other part of your training. While resting your body, make sure that you don’t get out of shape! Your coaches design each element of your taper workouts to have a specific value, so listen to what you should be accomplishing within each set.
Taper is only effective if you work on other components outside of the pool along with your rest in the pool. Take care of your body and picture how you want to swim each second of your races to build your confidence for the big weekend.
love this Kelsey Lynch!!!
Thank you Diana!!
Thank you Diana!!
Brianna Bearden
Taper time is Jacksons excuse to do even less around the house than he does! Me; jackisn, take out the trash. Jackson: can’t. Taper. Hang your towel, can’t. Taper. :).
Robin Taylor, can this be printed somehow? Karen Ivey Bown?
The picture? Yeah.