The Different Approaches to Eating at Swim Meets
It’s a little-known fact that swimmers love food (no really… they do!) and it plays an integral part in their daily lives, but how do swimmers approach eating at meets when the stakes are heightened? I’ve taken the liberty of categorizing the different approaches to eating at meets into five types, based on years of “scientific” observation and personal experience.
Too Nervous to Eat Anything
I’m convinced that there’s at least one of these on every team. Every swimmer will struggle with nerves at some point in their careers, but this one REALLY seems to struggle. You try your best to get them to eat, but it never really seems to pan out. They sit on the bleachers, not really engaging with their teammates or the environment. They stare at the pool with eyes clouded by an impending sense of dread. You want to give them a pep talk, a hug or at least an orange slice, but you’re afraid to even approach them. Hopefully one day they’ll grow out of it.
The Junk Food at Ungodly Hours in the Morning
And on the completely opposite end of the spectrum, there’s the swimmer who always arrives clutching a grease-stained McDonald’s bag. Allow me to reiterate: they never fail to bring some sort of junk food. Maybe they’ll leave their suit at home, miss warmup, and arrive in a frenzy because they’re walking into the facility with only a few heats until their first event. You can guarantee it’s because the line at Dunkin was moving extra slow. No one understands how these swimmers manage to go fast, much less not sink to the bottom of the pool.
The One Who Feeds Everyone
Now this goes without saying, but this swimmer is probably pretty popular. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with the person carrying a massive snack bag? Their mom is probably the president of the PTA. These swimmers are also who you go to when your cap breaks or your goggles snap (seriously how do they ALWAYS have extra caps and goggles.) These swimmers are often hard-working and dependable, the “mom friend.” Need a heat sheet? Highlighters? A towel? They have plenty.
The Superstitious One
These swimmers have always puzzled me, mostly because they tend to form these beliefs seemingly out of nowhere. I recall members of my summer league relays instructing me to bite off a corner of our card and swallow it so we would swim fast. Now I can’t speak on the actual efficacy of eating a small, pink, piece of paper, but it was a fun bonding experience. I digress. I actually know a couple swimmers who eat some pretty odd things at meets. Some of my closest friends are famous for eating beets, which were surprisingly delicious with a hint of dirt.
The Healthy One
This swimmer might have the same amount of snacks as the aforementioned One Who Feeds Everyone, but their snacks are significantly less desirable. Maybe they’re even a little embarrassed by their snack selection. They understand that no one REALLY wants to eat celery sticks. There’s a chance they’ve tried to pawn their food off on you at some point or another and you politely smiled and said “no thank you.” There’s a good chance their parents are going through some sort of phase. Maybe you can sneak them an Oreo or two when no one’s around.