New Zealand’s first ever World Championship long course gold medalist, Dunedin’s Erika Fairweather, has had a stunning start to the year and is hopeful that, along with her planning and preparation, will lead to success in Paris.
An Olympian in Tokyo, Erika says the build up to Paris could not be more different and the work of her performance support team is a big factor in that difference.
“I’m no longer at school, I’ve had considerably more international racing experience and my performance support team has helped my dedicated focus on Paris,” says Erika.
By the time Erika headed overseas for her pre-Games build up she says a lot of the work had already been done.
“All of my decisions are a collaborative effort between my coach, Lars Humer, and my HPSNZ team.
“A big part of that collaboration is the behind the scenes focus on communications between my support team – physio Helen Littleworth, S&C Mikey Jacobs, nutritionist Becky Jones and the rest of the team.
“Our WhatsApp group chat has run hot to ensure we all knew what we were doing before I headed away. We’ve lightened my gym load and tweaked the preventative work with Helen, my physio. In addition, the focus of my nutrition programme has been to be as similar as when I’m at home, ensuring I have enough fuel for competition and for recovery.”
On the nutrition front, Becky has been working with Erika for about 18 months and says a big factor in her nutrition programme is to take into account a training schedule which often has multiple sessions across the day and week, early starts and afternoon sessions.
“We have to prepare Erika’s body for every single session,” says Becky. “She has to have enough energy available to ensure she has adequate fuel to drive her physiological processes.
“Fuelling strategies for before, during and after sessions are incredibly important and the importance of hydration cannot be underestimated.”
Come competition time, Becky says one of the challenges for a swimmer like Erika is the number of events she competes in. “She has a heavy competition schedule and we need to ensure she has adequate energy before each event, then refuels for semis and finals.
“We do a lot of planning for race days. Erika’s race day schedule informs our fuelling strategy which, for a swimmer, can be a balance between having enough energy available for speed and endurance, whilst also being easy for the body to digest across the day.
“What this can look like is consumption of lower fibre carbohydrate options, like white bread over wholegrain, for easier digestion and absorption of energy before racing and then foods including protein and carbohydrate for recovery after, like milk and fruit. We use a similar approach for heading into an evening session, focusing on optimal recovery post-race in preparation for the next sessions.”
Physiotherapist Helen has been part of Erika’s performance support team since 2019 when she was still at school.
“A big part of my role was in the last couple of years leading up to the trials in April and once Erika had qualified our focus moved largely to preventative treatments,” says Helen.
“Being proactive is key. Listening to how Erika is feeling and reading her body helps us analyse what is happening biomechanically. If she’s been doing some very high intensity work we need to analyse and treat tightness and altered movement patterns. There might be a need to do mobilisation work to free up soft tissues.”
Having been on Erika’s performance support team for five years, Helen says there have been a lot of changes, not the least of which is her development from a school-aged athlete into a high performing world class athlete.
“She has been on an amazing journey at a time when her physique is changing. She’s worked harder and smarter and very closely with her entire support team.
“Erika now has amazing movement patterns and the balance of body mobility and stability, a real swimmer’s body, and our goal is to use her exceptional mental and physical attributes to maximally perform.”
Both Helen and Becky will be cheering their protégé on from home as the Paris on the ground health team includes physio and nutrition support. They both, however, say they are at the end of a phone and will be available 24/7 to provide support for their health colleagues and for Erika in Paris.
