Aswe watch the snow fall, and think about all the cold and colds tocome, there are a few things you can do to help your athlete stayhealthy and able to train.
1. Give your swimmer time to dry their hair before they leavethe locker room and pool area. Teach them to drytheir ears safely and thoroughly by letting the warm air blow overtheir ears
and around their ears, but not directly in their ears.
and around their ears, but not directly in their ears.
2. Drops to help with waterevaporation in the ear canal and near the ear drum will help preventear and sinus infections. You can purchase Swim Ear Drops or AuridriDrops at most drug stores—or you can make your own. Add 2 partsalcohol and 1 part vinegar in an eye dropper bottle—it works justas well!!!
3. Encourage them to change out of their wet suit and into dryunderwear and clothes. Wet towels wrapped around wetsuits with a coat over the top should NOT be acceptable. They shouldalso put on dry socks and shoes—not the same flip-flops they havebeen wearing around the water for practice.
4. Make sure they have hood/stocking hat, mittens or gloves, and a warmcoat to wear while coming to and going fromthe pool.
5. Feed them lots of fruit to munch on and fruit juice to drink!!!!! Put grapes and carrots in reach for snacking instead of chips andcookies.
6. Make sure they are eating well balanced meals with extra vegetables. Steamed or raw vegetables are the most valuable to the body.
7. Give them a Multi-vitamin supplement and a vitamin C supplement,just to be sure. After all, you don’t know what they are or areNOT eating when they are out of sight. Vitamin supplementsgiven according to the directions on the bottle won’t hurtthem—their bodies will absorb what they need andexcrete what they do not need.
8. Make sure they are getting enough sleep, and they are getting it ina regular sleeping pattern.
9. Make sure they are drinking lots of fresh, plain water. Water willhelp flush out any bugs or germs that are trying to take hold intheir bodies.
10. Helping your athlete stay caughtup on homework will also fight the “nasties”. Stress fromgetting behind, loosing sleep while trying to cram and stoking thebrain with junk food to get through the late night cramming willweaken the immune system and leave swimmers vulnerable.
11.Give them extra hugs all winter long!!!! Happiness, security and reassurance are great warriors in the fightagainst exhaustion, illness and the winter blahs.
Keeping them healthy will help themget your money’s worth out of swimming and save you money onantibiotics!! Please go over these tips with your swimmers. All thecoaches will be looking for dry clothes, dry hair and warm outerwear!!!
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