racing sickness

[ttt]

i have a swimmer who is sick when he swims (races) does anyone know of ways to stop this?

[Unfit]

not much info to go on but i take it that you and he thinks that he is sick because of nerves? have you checked that he isn't eating the wrong things on the day of the race? or eating too soon before the race or not eating for hours and hours? when you do time-trials/sprints in training is he sick?

so many questions!

[ttt]

it is in middle distance events. He has tried eating more or less and changing what he drinks before hand but it usually happen all the same. sometimes occurs in training if it is long sets above threshold

[Bazza]

I have suffered from this very same problem myself. I seem to be getting over it now, though unfortunately I'm unable to say exactly why. Basically in my case I was sick after a (particularly hard!) race in November 2000. My coach thought it might just be a virus which was otherwise undetectable, so I was given a week off to recover, and we assumed it was a one-off problem.

I swam in a gala the week after, and the same thing happened. At this stage I was given a further two weeks off and told to go and see my doctor. He couldn't say what the problem was, but to make my mum feel better, took a blood sample so as to be able to carry out tests. He did four different tests. I can't remember exactly what they all were, but I think it was diabetes, hypoglycaemia (sp?), and red and white blood cell counts. All came back fine, so I resumed training. Second session back in training I was sick after doing a sprint set (high intensity).

By now it was mid-december and we were pretty much closing down for Christmas, so I took two more weeks off and missed a training camp in January. Upon my return (I'd now had five weeks off), I was forced to train at the bottom end of the squad due to lack of fitness, and the problem became less frequent, but still reared it's ugly head at competitions from time to time, and with less frequency in training (after hard, high intensity type work).

I think the last time I suffered from this problem was about September/October when I was forced to take another fortnight off, but since then I've pretty much been fine. The two things I might suggest:

1. Eating as soon as possible, especially after racing. It was suggested my problem might be that I try so hard when I race that my blood sugar level goes through the floor, leaving me feeling nauseus. For a period, I would literally eat something as soon as I had climbed out of the pool and dried off.

2. Mental approach. Many people said to me during this period that it ws all 'in my head' and that "If I didn't think about it I'd be alright". If you've ever been in this situation it really isn't that simple. You can't help but wonder if you're going to be sick and think about what to do if you feel ill. At one stage I was at the point where I would head straight for the changing rooms after a race 'just in case'. In reality this probably didn't help because it makes me think I am going to be sick. I didn't believe them at the time, but those people were probably right, and now I find the less I worry about it, the less of a problem it becomes, and I have more confidence in training when we are given a high intensity set. It is also true that I was under alot of pressure at the time for various reasons such as A-Levels, so the stress which that created probably didn't help.

My coach also suggested that i try to gain some weight, as I have very little body fat, and he felt that wasn't helping me to recover quickly after a hard session.

Finally, the atmosphere at many galas probably isn't helpful. It can often be very crowded/cramped - claustrophobic almost, and very hot too. This doesn't make you feel overly comfortable, so I used to try and 'escape' the poolside whenever possible. Lots of time loitering in the changing rooms ;)

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank a certain person who really helped me through this difficult time and I probably never mentioned how much that meant to me! You know who you are!! ;)

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions and keep us posted on the progress.

[mammamedley]

I suffer with nerves when i race but have never been sick. I feel for you. I do use Bach's Rescue Remedy. It is a collection of flower extracts in an alcohol solution. I just put 3-4 drops on my tongue when I need it. It may be in my mind but my digestion problems are relieved!
I have a small bottle in my swimming bag at meets and maybe use it once during a weekend.
I also get nervous flying and use it then.
My son doesn't like the London Underground so out comes the Rescue Remedy! It works as he calms down.
Check out some alternative methods.

[Heath56]

In the past few months every time I have had a race I have been sick the nite before and during the gala before my races. I have never had it before. My coaches think that it must be nerves but it doesn't matter how much i try not to think of my race it always happens. I even had to drop out of an age group final because I had no energy to swim and was continously being sick. I would appreciate it if you could reply with any answers.

[mammamedley]

Do you get nervous before racing?
Maybe your coach could investigate some 'visualisation' techniques to help. It won't be a quick fix and will take time.
Try: www.swimpsychology.com
or www.swimming.about.com/cs/sportspsychology/

Please let me know how you get on.

[Bowly]

I've come across this before as well. I went to school with a lad who was a national sprint hurdler pretty damn quick on the flat as well!
When he ran 100m flat or 110m hurdling he was fine no probs lots of medals etc... but then when he had to compete in a 200m race he would lose it and be chucking up AFTER the race. When our athletics coach told him to see a doc, he went, but the doc said that by pushing his body to the extreme often led to being sick, and it was seen as a quickfire way to recover. Don't ask me how or why, but thats what the doc said.
Having never pushed myself to such an extreme i wouldn't know, but I'm sure there are lots of people who don't exactly feel 100% after a competitive race, some just deal with it better than others!

[swimmer]

i have a swimmer who is sick when he swims (races) does anyone know of ways to stop this?

i have a friend who used to be like this, try to get them clam befroe the race, and so they don't worry about it, relaxed in other words and not nervous before you get behind the blocks. This should work as the problem sounds psycological.