EIS Southern Nutrition Lead Jeni Pearce

PEARCE TO PROVIDE NUTRITIONAL SUPPORT

Nutritionist Jeni Pearce can’t wait to help British athletes put the finishing touches to their Beijing preparations after being appointed as HQ Nutritionist for the Olympic holding camp by the British Olympic Association (BOA).

Pearce, who joined the English Institute of Sport (EIS) as Southern Nutrition Lead last year, will be based in Macau for four weeks in July and August where the majority of British athletes will train whilst acclimatising before going on to compete.
 
“I’m very excited and honoured to have been appointed by the BOA for the Olympic holding camp” she told eis2win.co.uk

And Pearce, who was an on site Nutritionist at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, adds: “I’m really looking forward to being entirely focused on one team and helping British athletes at a really crucial stage of their preparation.”

Pearce will liaise closely with nutritionists currently working with Olympic squads, some of whom will not be able to attend the camp, to ensure a continuity of service provision whilst also liaising with the training venues and chefs regarding the food arrangements for athletes.

She explains: “Some sports will have their own nutritionists out there with them and in those cases it will just be a question of supporting and supplementing that provision, however other sports may not have the resources in order to send a practitioner so we will have an important role to play there in providing specialist care and ensuring that any requirements or problems are acted upon and followed up.”

And Pearce’s expertise will be of great importance to athletes at a critical time as they near competition.

“The experience of a holding camp is quite unique and could potentially be fairly daunting for a first time Olympic athlete” she explains.

“It is important for the environment to be as familiar, friendly and relaxing as possible and my role in that will be in ensuring that athletes can approach me for guidance and also to keep an eye on them to ensure that they are not losing weight through stress as the nerves build up to competition.”

Throughout their stay at the holding camp, athletes will have access to what Pearce describes as a ‘supermarket of free food’, but she warns she will be on hand to ensure no one is overindulging.

“Part of my role will be to help those athletes that need it, especially those from sports where body weight is important such as boxing, in selecting food which is right for them at the appropriate time and ensuring that they don’t experiment or eat treats until their competition is over” she says.

Pearce, who will return to her role at the EIS after the games, was one of three EIS nutritionists to be short listed for the position by the BOA.

“I think that it is a great compliment to the calibre of the practitioners we have here that three nutritionists from the EIS were short listed” she says.

“I’m obviously delighted and privileged to have been given this opportunity but it’s also very pleasing to know that the quality of our practitioners is being recognised in this way.”

by James Skitt

06.05.08