Plans into Practice for Disability Swimming

 

by Rebecca Roberts - 22.01.10

For many sports the year after a successful Paralympic campaign can prove challenging but 2009 was nothing short of successful for Britain’s Disability Swimming squad.

After numerous meets throughout the calendar, the year culminated with the European Championships in Reykjavik, Iceland, followed just five weeks later by the World Short Course Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the first of their kind, whetting the squad’s appetite for the World Championships in 2010.

Whilst athletes and coaches gain experience from a busy competition schedule, for support staff working with the programme it provides the opportunity to put plans into practice whilst ensuring the best techniques to deliver performance are captured. Eis2win.co.uk talks to some of the English Institute of Sport (EIS) practitioners working with British Disability Swimming.

“The support team working with British Disability Swimming has been able to build upon and put strategies into practice early on within the Paralympic cycle” says Catherine Gilby, EIS Physiologist.

“Being able to hit the ground running and getting sport science and medical strategies in place helps keep ahead on the way to London 2012, particularly with the World Championships in 2010 in mind” she adds.

The squad combine a range of sport science and medical support with their coaching expertise, including physiology, physiotherapy, performance nutrition, performance psychology and performance lifestyle.

After the Beijing Paralympics, EIS Performance Nutritionist Michael Naylor saw 2009 as an opportunity to build upon the work done leading into the Games.

“The aim for 2009 was to put individual and team strategies in place to support swimmers during two major meets in two completely different environments” explains Naylor.

“With the athletes going from freezing conditions in Reykjavik to 40 degrees in Rio de Janeiro with just five weeks in between, it was essential the athletes had specific nutrition plans to maintain energy levels, maximise recovery, preserve health and to avoid illness. The athletes have done a fantastic job to ensure their nutritional intake was supporting their swimming and health” he adds.

As with the other expertise the British programme utilises, performance nutrition was not used in isolation, something Naylor believes was essential in rolling out effective plans throughout the year:

“The interdisciplinary nature of the British Disability Swimming High Performance Support Team played a fundamental role in the preparation of the nutrition strategies throughout 2009, ensuring plans were specific to training and competition programmes and the athletes had the necessary mental edge skills to promote behaviour change.”

National Performance Director Tim Reddish sees the close knit team behind the squad as key to consistently reaching high standards.

“As we strive for the highest standards of performance from athletes in the pool we also strive for world leading support from all our partners working within our programme. We work with the EIS to ensure the right expertise are available wherever we need them and being able to tryst not just one person, but a whole institute of expertise gives us the strength to keep setting our aim high for performance.”

The squad now prepare for the British National Championships next month which starts their 2010 campaign.

For more information about British Disability Swimming click here

Photography © Getty Images