Swimming uses energy and makes your muscles work. Food and drink afterwards give your body what it needs to recover. Try to include some carbohydrate, often called carbs, and some protein. Carbs replace some of the fuel used during swimming. Protein helps your body grow and your muscles repair. If you are having a meal soon after swimming, your usual meal may be enough. It could include pasta, rice, potatoes or bread with eggs, beans, fish, chicken or tofu.

A hard set does not mean you are doing badly. Some sets are meant to challenge your fitness, your skills or your ability to hold the pace your coach has asked for. First, make sure you understand the set and its purpose. Then focus on one repeat or one length at a time. Think about the skill, stroke count, breathing, turns or pace your coach has asked you to hold instead of worrying about other swimmers.

You may race by yourself, but nobody trains and competes completely on their own. The way you behave can help your whole lane and team. In training, being a good teammate can include: arriving ready to begin listening when your coach is speaking following the lane order and leaving the gap your coach has asked for giving other swimmers enough space to finish their turns safely encouraging others without distracting them

Swimmers do not all grow, learn new skills or become ready for harder training at exactly the same time. This means squad moves will not always happen together, even for swimmers who are the same age or joined the club together. At Bluefins, a squad move should happen when the training in another squad is likely to help you more. One swimmer may be ready for longer sessions, a faster pace or more responsibility.

Each Bluefins squad has its own training aims. Your coach looks for the squad that best matches what you need right now. Bluefins coaches watch swimmers during regular training and competitions. They look at several things, including: your technique and skills across all four strokes how you manage the pace, distance and skills in each session how well you listen, follow instructions and train with others how regularly you train and what you are working towar