Interesting article in The Globe and Mail this week about Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh, who has won two medals (so far!) this week in Paris. The article describes her rest and restoration process in between races. It’s a wonderful reminder of the value of R&R and reminds me of the much-discussed advice on this forum to rest enough to do what we have to do (which for me includes exercise, even if not quite at Summer’s level. I find I need inspiration for both exercising and resting.).
You need to be a subscriber to read the article, so I will cut and paste the relevant bits here:
The Science of How Summer McIntosh Rests Between Races (by Grant Robertson, The Globe and Mail, 31 July 2024)
Summer McIntosh is a newly minted Olympic gold medalist. But with several high-stakes races still to come at the Paris Olympics, the 17-year-old swimmer has been perfecting other crucial skills away from the water.
“I’m a professional napper at this point,” McIntosh said Wednesday. “It kind of becomes a skill that you learn.”
Behind the scenes at the Olympics, McIntosh and her coach are engaged in an around-the-clock mission like no other.
With McIntosh contending for as many as five or six medals in Paris, every second of rest, relaxation and recuperation is crucial. Each race depends on it.
About a year ago, her coach, Brent Arckey, drew up the Olympic schedule on a piece of paper, and the two began plotting out how many races she could possibly swim in nine days, including heats, semi-finals and finals, and how they could maximize every minute in between.
From eating, to napping, to sleeping, to warm ups, cool downs and massages, no moment is wasted. Even the time she spends on her feet is watched closely.
It is part art, part science, and a logistical nightmare all wrapped into one.
But resting is as important as racing.
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“I know once I dive in, I’m good, but it’s really important to recover as best as possible in between races.”
Asked recently what she does between one session and the next, McIntosh listed off a series of items in rapid succession, including but not limited to: dry off, eat as soon as possible, get a massage, take a nice long nap, eat again, then back to the pool, then more rest, more food, stay off your feet, drink lots of water, then more sleep.
Few people are as busy at resting as McIntosh these days.
Her mom, Jill, who swam for Canada at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, said swimming has become so sophisticated that races are won by the slimmest of margins, which are not always decided by what happens in between the lane markers.
“The Olympics is won as much outside the pool as inside the pool now, because everyone is spectacular inside the pool,” Jill McIntosh said.
“It’s how much you are willing to really take care of yourself outside the pool. It’s very, very strategic and methodical,” she said. “It’s fun competing, but you just have to be super, super disciplined.”
McIntosh’s races last between two and four minutes, depending on the event, but what happens around them is extensive. The problem, as Jill explains, is that every race is a session at the pool.
“What happens is you’re at the pool at least five or six hours per session,” Jill said. “So that’s what causes the exhaustion by Day 9.”
Plus there’s semi-finals and, in some events, morning heats as well.
All swimmers think about recovery, and many of them attack it with the same fervour they give their races.
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“That’s not talked about enough to be honest,” McIntosh said. “The whole process in between that two- to four-minute race.”
physio 
hi i'm jenny and new to having giant cell arteritis
Was it only 5 days ago?
From aquafit to weights?
For SheffieldJane - My inspiration! 
