TECHNIQUE NUTRITION
THE 5,OOOKM MAN Most readers will not have heard of Martin Strel, so let me introduce a man whose achievements are nothing short of phenomenal. Known as the 'Big River Man', Strel started his river-swimming career in the early 1990s, swimming the 62km Kolpa River and the 105km Krka River in Slovenia. Since then he has broken several world records, including swimming for 84 hours non-stop and breaking the world record for the ‘longest swimming journey’ four times. The first time was in 2000 when he swam the length of the Danube, then in 2002 when he swam the Mississippi, in 2004 it was the Yangtze, and again in April 2007, when he swam 5,268km – the entire length of the Amazon River, a distance greater than the width of the Atlantic Ocean. As you can imagine, the nutritional demands placed on Martin’s body are huge. His son Borut Strel explains that: “Nutritional advisors prepare a diet plan for each event. These place a large emphasis on carbohydrates and also fruit, vegetables and fish, although he avoids other forms of meat as he finds them difficult to digest. “While he is swimming, he needs to take on 600-1,000kcal but we have to adjust this, depending on the water temperature, as more calories are burned in cold water.” Despite needing to consume large amounts of total energy, Martin doesn’t use the fastest-absorbing forms of carbohydrates – such as gels – as often as a marathon swimmer would. “He does use gels, but not on a day-to-day basis as he doesn’t feel right after regular use,” says Borut. As well as fuelling, Martin has to pay close attention to his
hydration status. "He gets diarrhoea and also has to wear a wetsuit to protect him from the sun, to help with buoyancy and for warmth in cold water". Both of these increase fluid loss considerably, so Martin has to make sure that he also includes a suitable amount of electrolytes – sodium, magnesium and potassium – in his drinks each day. Happily, even during one of his massive swims, Martin
likes to wind down with a glass of red wine in the evening, just like the rest of us. He drinks as much as two bottles a day, and, according to Borut, “He feels great afterwards!” Martin is currently in the USA preparing to swim the
Grand Canyon section of the Colorado River. Find out more about his swims at
amazonswim.com or
martinstrel.com. Look out next month for our interview with the man himself.
Right before you get in: There is some evidence to suggest that drinking a sports drink or eating gel/sweets, equalling about 30g of carbohydrate, less than 60mins before a race, will help your performance. While trials show some athletes may suffer a drop in blood sugar levels as a result of this (equalling a negative impact on performance), the majority of findings suggest the practice is beneficial. To minimise risk, athletes should ingest carbs within 5-10 mins of the start and choose lower GI* carbohydrates – fructose rather than glucose, or a gel with a combination. During the event: For the 10km open water event held at Dorney Lake in
May, the organisers say “a combination of water, sports drink, gels, energy bars and bananas will be available for swimmers to choose from stations”, every 2.5km. Competitors will need to take full advantage of this, as a study looking at elite 10km open water swimmers in Brazil showed that a drop in blood sugar levels equalled a drop in performance time. As energy levels drop, so does distance per stroke and then stroke efficiency. This downward spiral emphasises the need to supplement carbs regularly during any swim longer than about an hour.
Nick Morgan, sport scientist and director of Sports Integrated, suggests that: “supplementing carbohydrate at a rate of around 30-60 grams per hour should ensure that a swimmer can reach the end of an endurance event without completely running out of energy”. “As there are four calories per gram of carbohydrate, this
works out as around 120-240kcal per hour”. This energy can be taken as gels or drinks... some even place sweets in tied-up condoms and ask open-minded friends and family to supply them from the bank at strategic points during the race. While researching this article I have seen a few calculations on the forums that suggest taking between 800-1,000kcal per hour is optimal. However, I would suggest that these figures are more for those taking part in swims over 5-6 hours and will combine carbs with fats to get the high kcal figure mentioned. Developing and trialling your own strategy before the event day is key. It may be that the location and timing of the ‘on- course’ nutrition isn’t right for you. In this instance, Human Race suggest that for the Dorney event competitors should “bring along their own support team who could feed from the bank, and provide that much-needed support”. Hydration: Scientists give different advice when it comes to recommending how much to drink during a swim. Although the science in now moving towards recommending drinking when thirsty, swimmers should still aim to consume 400-500ml an hour during exercise as a baseline, and may need to consume more than this to stay hydrated. Human Race will have water feed stations every 2.5km of the 10km swim, which should help swimmers to achieve this.
One thing all scientists agree on is that including electrolytes
Martin Strel conquers the Amazon in 2007
in your drink will help replace the salts lost through sweating, a loss that is increased when wearing a wetsuit. “People need to change their attitude to drinking around exercise so that the
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