Jamie Ingram joins us Helen Gorman to discuss his tapering strategy ahead of the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships this April. He’s one of Britain’s top butterfly swimmers and a Commonwealth Games medallist from 2022.

Jamie explains what goes into preparation for a major event, what changes in the final weeks before competition, and the signs swimmers look for to know they’re ready to perform. He breaks down his 100m butterfly, from kick counts, pacing and strategy to handling pressure as he targets another Team England selection. There are lots of takeaways for masters swimmers, highlighting what elements of elite training can be applied at any level.

We also touch on Jamie’s own masters swimming experiences, the downsides of growing long facial hair before taper, and his race analytics and coaching business, https://www.jingramswimming.com

This week we dive into the science of lactate, that familiar burning sensation you feel in the closing stages of a hard race, and explore why bicarbonate of soda – baking powder – is being used by elite athletes to slow down lactate acid production. We look at how athletes can train to improve lactate tolerance, considering diet, lifestyle and age as a factor. We consider why elite athletes across different sports have experimented with taking bicarb supplements and whether it can genuinely help swimmers hold their speed when fatigue kicks in. Joining us are Jack Gray and Josh Elston-Carr from sports nutrition brand, FLYCARB.

They bring scientific knowledge and performance experience to the conversation. We discuss how bicarb works as a buffering agent, why it’s been used across multiple different sports since the golden era of Coe vs Ovett on the track. We also look at the downsides and discuss whether supplementation has a placebo effect on performance. This episode breaks down physiology, training, and the practical applications in a way that’s (hopefully) easy to understand.

If you’d like to try bicarb for yourself, visit https://www.flycarb.com and use the code FREESTYLE10.

Michael Read MBE is a legend of British swimming. He has spent more than six decades pushing the limits of endurance in the water. Selected for the 1960 Olympic team before an accident ended that dream, he went on to carve out an extraordinary career in marathon swimming — including 33 crossings of the English Channel, earning him the title of "King of the Channel.”

Now in his 80s, Michael is still competing at the highest level in masters swimming, recently winning multiple gold medals at the Open Masters Games in Abu Dhabi and claiming a World Aquatics masters open water title in Singapore.

In this episode we talk about Olympic heartbreak, the brutal beauty of Channel swimming, and what keeps him diving in after a lifetime in the sport.