Drink Up, Close Fast In Marathon Swimming

Lindsey Clary performed very well in the 2013 USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships in Castaic Lake, California last week. The 17-year-old high school student was competitive with the best athletes America has and was always flirting around the lead pack until the very end of the race.

She ultimately finished 11th and was offered a spot on the USA Swimming Junior National Open Water Swimming Team as a result. This was a remarkable feat, especially considering that she never fed during the entire 2 hour 4 minute 10 km race.

“I had a gel [pac] before the race,” she explained. “But I never really drink during practice and I didn’t feel the need to start feeding during the race.”

But any 2-hour extraordinary exertion of energy requires hydration and re-fueling even if training is geared the other direction.

After then 10K I wouldn’t have changed anything knowing how I felt and about how I didn’t eat. I was leading for a while and I didn’t feel the need to feed especially because I didn’t want to loose any ground I just gained in front of the girls. In the 5K I did not feel other then a gel before the race 😊

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