What swimmers eat: From vegans to carnivores and everything in between
We take a look at the contrasting diets favoured by Olympic champions Adam Peaty, Michael Phelps, Ahmed Hafnaoui and Murray Rose, and some of the mistakes they made along the way.
“To be vegan, or to go carnivore? And how many calories do I need to consume?”
These are just some of the questions that elite swimming stars need to ask themselves when planning their diet.
Adam Peaty, for example, needs to consume between 6,000 and 8,000 calories per day — more than three times the amount of an average male - in order to maintain muscle while undergoing gruelling workouts.
Unfortunately for the men’s 100m breaststroke world record holder and Olympic champion, he wasn’t able to consume enough protein after deciding to go vegan in 2018, and started to lose muscle.
As a result, the Brit came up with a new dietary plan that began at 6am with a bowl of Weetabix, a second breakfast at 9.30am, and a lunch of chicken with vegetables and rice.
Then for the rest of the day he tops up with small meals of sweet potato, chicken or fish, wholemeal toast, with a protein shake post workout and before bed.
Below, we take a look at the dietary requirements and preferences of other elite swimmers, from pasta-obsessed distance freestylers, to a multi-Olympic champion that credited plant-based nutrition for his success.
Adam Peaty prepares for the men's 100m breaststroke at the 2023 World Cup in Budapest
Reintroducing red meat helped Bruno Fratus to Olympic bronze
Bruno Fratus is another sprinter that believes he made an error when cutting out red meat and other food types ahead of his home Olympic Games at Rio 2016.
After progressing to the men’s 50m freestyle final, a disappointing performance saw the Brazilian finish down in sixth place.
The four-time World Championships medallist decided to stop dieting so strictly, and instead listen to his natural body cravings.
“I stopped cutting things [out]. I stopped cutting red meat, fat, and white carbs like pasta,” Fratus told Olympics.com ahead of Tokyo 2020.
“That's when I started to actually get stronger. My training quality increased drastically, I put good weight on in the weight room, and the quality of my sleep improved a lot.
“I still don't drink soft drinks and try to stay away from sugar, but I drink a little wine every now and then, have a pint of beer, and I still eat bread and cheese.”
The move worked wonders, and Fratus went on to win bronze at the Games in Japan, sparking some now famous celebrations on the podium.
Murray Rose - the plant-fuelled Olympic champion
While eating meat improved the performance of Peaty and Fratus, plant-based Murray Rose provides a reminder that the optimal diet for each athlete depends on their individual body composition.
Rose was, in many ways, a man ahead of his time, adopting a vegan diet during the 1950s and '60s, when such an idea was considered anything but the norm.
The Australian, subsequently nicknamed the 'Seaweed Streak', won four Olympic gold medals, and at one point held Olympic records in the men’s 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle.
His meals of carrot juice, cashew nuts, sunflower seeds, unpolished rice, dates, were often prepared by his mother, and certainly proved that a vegan swimmer can dominate the competition.
Australian swimmer Murray Rose, winner of the 400-metre crawl at the Melbourne Olympics, signs autographs for young fans, 4th December 1956. Rose won two other gold medals at Melbourne, for the 1,500 metres and the 4x200 metres freestyle relay.
Michael Phelps required 8000-10000 calories a day
Multi-event specialist Michael Phelps’ diet was legendary.
His coach, Bob Bowman, revealed in his book that Phelps would swim 13 km a day in training, six or seven days a week.
To fuel this enormous outlay of energy, the 23-time Olympic gold medallist would consume between 8,000-10,000 calories a day.
His breakfasts consisted of three fried egg sandwiches, with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, fried onions and mayonnaise, followed by three chocolate-chip pancakes. Next came sandwiches, before it was time for a five-egg omelette, three sugar-coated slices of French toast, a bowl of porridge, and coffee.
For lunch, he would eat a half-kilo of pasta, two ham, cheese and mayonnaise sandwiches, and a set of energy drinks.
It would be another half kilo of pasta with carbonara sauce for dinner, a large pizza, and more energy drinks.
Despite this dense intake of food and drink, Phelps competed with 8% bodyfat and a weight of 85kg, which is a testament to the amount of work he was doing in training every day.
Michael Phelps of the United States celebrates winning gold in the Men's 200m Butterfly Final on Day 4 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium on August 9, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Pasta, and more pasta, for Gregorio Paltrinieri
Then we come to the distance swimmers.
Gregorio Paltrinieri is a rare breed of aquatic athlete that has won Olympic medals in swimming and in the 10km open water event.
To achieve these feats, the Italian completes approximately 18 km a day during training, and requires too many calories to count.
“I eat a lot! But I don't know how many calories. I have pasta every day, twice a day, lunch and dinner. Pasta is my favourite food,” the Rio 2016 1500m freestyle Olympic champion told Olympics.com.
“When I’m training by the seaside, I eat good fish or meat every day twice. And then vegetables, fruit, a lot of things. When you get out of the water, you're really hungry.”
Such significant training loads, while punishing on the body, also come with perks for some: cheat meals!
Canadian Olympic champion Maggie Mac Neil, who told Olympics.com that she's "very much an ice cream girl".
The idea of not being overly obsessive about diet, due to the sheer number of calories they burn at training, was echoed by USA star Kate Douglass.
“I don’t focus on diet at all, I eat what I want,” the multi-eventer told Olympics.com at the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships.
“I think it’s better to not think too much about it because then I feel like you get too in your head about what you’re eating. I’m definitely a big dessert person and I think it’s good to eat what you want.”
Meanwhile, men’s 400m freestyle Olympic champion Ahmed Hafnaoui, told us that as long as hitting correct numbers on the scales, he does not get too concerned with his nutrition.
“I don’t put much importance on my diet. I pay more attention to my weight - there is a maximum that I should not go over,” he told Olympics.com.
There are many variables for a swimmer, from their natural physique to the demands of their event. This means that there is not a single best diet to follow.
Instead, it seems that as long as there are enough calories and proteins being consumed to fuel intense training sessions, experimentation is key. As such, a swimmer's diet should never be a boring one!