Heptathlete Lauryn Davey Shares Swimsuit Photo from the North Sea

Lauryn Davey is heating up the North Sea in her swimsuit. In one of her latest social media posts the Heptathlete flaunts her famous figure in a bathing suit while vacationing in Nordsjö. “Never been so jealous of a fish in a lake before,” commented one of her followers. “No.1 girl crush,” added another. How does the British athlete maintain her fit physique? Celebwell rounded up some of her top lifestyle habits.

1. She Runs

A heptathlete is someone who competes in seven different sports. One of the basic ways Lauryn trains is by running – a lot. According to the Mayo Clinic, running is great for cardiovascular health, muscle building, and weight loss. “For every mile run, the average person will burn approximately 100 calories,” they say.

2. She Soaks in the Hot Tub

Lauryn knows how to recover from heavy training – a soak in the hot tub. “Off SZN,” she captioned a photo of herself indulging in a little heat therapy.

3. She Lifts Weights

Strength and weight training is also an important part of Lauryn’s regiment. Each week adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and 2 days of muscle-strengthening activity, according to the current Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

4. She Bikes

Lauryn loves riding bikes. The Cleveland Clinic explains that biking, a low-impact aerobic exercise, is great for building muscle, improving strength and flexibility, and improving balance. It can also boost mental health and help other health conditions, including arthritis.

5. She Paddleboards

When Lauryn is on vacation she keeps her body moving. One of her go-to activities is paddleboarding. “It’s not as easy as it looks,” she captioned a post. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) agrees that paddle boarding is great for the core and also a great form of cardio. The water sport can burn an average of 385 calories for a 140 pound male and 436 for a female the same size, per a study conducted by Arizona State University.

6. She Swims

Finally, Lauryn loves to swim, a good way to get regular aerobic physical activity, according to the CDC. Just two and a half hours per week of aerobic physical activity, such as swimming, bicycling, or running, can decrease the risk of chronic illnesses. In addition to the many physical benefits, there are multiple studies supporting the mental health benefits of swimming as well.

The Summer Olympics are coming! The Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (aka Paris 2024) run from from Friday, July 26 to Sunday, August 11, 2024. So we're getting hyped for one of our favorite events: Swimming. Several women have made their mark on the swimming world. From Katie Ledecky, to Janet Evans, to Simone Manuel, these women have won medals, broke world records, and made history. How do they stay so fit? Read on for their wellness tips.

1. Katie Ledecky

Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images

Katie Ledecky has won multiple medals in the Olympics. She shared her training secrets in an interview with E! News. Ledecky opened up about her diet in it. “I keep it pretty consistent. The only day that I don't train is Sundays, so even right now when I'm taking a little bit of time off, I'm trying to stick to a pretty regular routine. So oatmeal for breakfast, some sort of egg sandwich for lunch, or eggs with toast and then dinner is what varies the most but it is either carbs or some sort of protein: chicken, steak, salmon, something along those lines.”

2. Missy Franklin

AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Missy Franklin has won multiple gold medals. She shared her favorite breakfast options with People. "Nutrition is a big part of my training. If I'm not fueling my body with the right things then I'm not going to perform the way I need to. "I'm very proud of myself because I've mastered the omelet flip in the pan. I almost always make omelets just so I can flip them—that's the most exciting part for me.”

3. Dara Torres

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Dara Torres is the oldest swimmer to win an Olympic medal. She opened up about her diet in an interview with Parade. “I had an eating disorder in college and it took me a while to get over it and I really developed a fear of foods. And so my philosophy is to eat healthy, but if you have a craving for something, don't deprive yourself; just have a little bit of it to help with the craving that you have. My philosophy is that if you are keeping yourself from eating certain things and not having what you want, you're gonna want it more than you should. So that's the biggest thing with me with diet. I try to eat my proteins every day and my fruits and vegetables. But I do have a sweet tooth. I can't deny that.”

4. Natalie Coughlin

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Olympic athlete Natalie Coughlin opened up about the importance of recovery in an interview with Kinetic Fix. “Recovery and rest is becoming much more important as I get older, but on the flip side there are some benefits to getting older: I’m much stronger, and I maintain that strength better than before. But as you age you tend to break down faster, so it’s really important for me to keep my strength and ease back when I swim, focusing more on race relevance.”

5. Emma McKeon

Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Emma McKeon is an Olympic medalist, known for her butterfly and freestyle strokes. She shared her wellness secrets and her daily routine with Women’s Health. “Depending on what day it is, I’ll also have a physio appointment. They will focus on my shoulders because I use them so much, then just any other little niggly or tight things that need maintenance. So far I’ve been pretty lucky not to have any proper injuries, just little niggly things that will go away after some regular physio treatment.”

6. Lilly King

Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Lilly King is an Olympic athlete. She shared how she prepares for meets in an interview with Swimming World. “It’s a little weird because I am always preparing for the race. I am constantly thinking about the outcome I want to achieve. I also only think about the best-case scenario, which I find not a lot of others do. I really try to only think about the positives.”

7. Sarah Sjöström

Deepbluemedia/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images

Sarah Sjöström has multiple world records for swimming. She shared her typical diet in an interview with Irmas World. “During my hard training periods I try to make sure I eat enough protein and carbs to recover better. I don’t count calories, I have just learned how much I need. I also try to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between meals at the same time every day. During competitions, I have protein/energy bars and after competitions and trainings protein and carb shakes or bars help me regain my energy.”

8. Rebecca Adlington

Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Rebecca Adlington is a gold medalist in the distance freestyle. She revealed to Hello! Magazine that she loves avocado. "For me, I love avocados and stuff like that. Obviously they are high in fat - it is one of those difficult things - but I'm not going to tell you to eat four avocados, and certainly, be careful what you're eating it with. For me, it's great to just have a bit of avocado with some eggs or something like that, because it does fill you. I think a lot of things, when you're eating fruit and vegetables, you're kind of hungry an hour after, whereas things that last and can help you survive the whole day are obviously better. I love avocado and eggs, simple things."

9. Summer Sanders

David Madison/Getty Images

Summer Sanders is a gold medalist and a sports commentator. She shared her diet secrets in an interview with SELF. “My healthiest habit is eating a healthy breakfast every morning. I never miss breakfast. As a busy mom, there will be days when I'm cruisin' along and I'll look at the clock and I haven't eaten lunch. And I'll run downstairs and I'll start shovelin' stuff down the pie hole, and I'll think, ‘That was no lunch at all.’ But breakfast has sort of turned into the new dinner, where you can sit down with your family and have a conversation. And my kids talk at breakfast. We talk about our dreams, talk about our nights' sleep, talk about what we wanna do today and be positive.”

10. Janet Evans

David Madison/Getty Images

Janet Evans is one of the most successful female swimmers. She opened up about her diet in an interview with Mom.com. “I eat a banana prior to my morning workout. I think protein is very important when you are training as hard, as you’re breaking your muscles down. So I usually have a protein shake or some eggs or something that gives me a little protein after my workout. I also have a scoop of my Metamucil to keep my cholesterol down–I have a history of heart disease in my family. Then, for lunch, I usually have something that’s going to sit well in my stomach because I have to go back to training. So I usually have a turkey sandwich or something of that nature. And dinner, I come home and make something healthy for my kids and husband. Once again, kind of protein-based, but basically trying to get enough fuel to get back up and do it all again the next day.”

11. Leisel Jones

Quinn Rooney/Getty Image

Leisel Jones is a world champion in breaststroke. She shared her morning workout in an interview with Women’s Health. “It’s time for a full-body workout at Perform 360 at Enogerra, Brisbane. It’s an intense fitness session and it really works my whole body – it’s a strength session with some conditioning at the end. Strength and conditioning training is a great combo for improving speed and power and also mobility, mind and stability. I love it.”

12. Haley Anderson

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Haley Anderson is an open water swimmer in the Olympics. She tells Cosmopolitan that she likes to weightlift. “My lifting workout started with a 15- to 30-minute dynamic warm-up for mobility and muscle activation. Then I moved into some power-lifting moves (mainly medicine ball throws) and transitioned into a mix of lower and upper body exercises. I worked in some extra exercises with my weight-lifting coach to strengthen my shoulder blades and shoulders, areas that can get torn down when you swim as much as me.”

13. Simone Manuel

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Simone Manuel became the first African-American woman to win gold for an individual event. She revealed that she suffered from overtraining syndrome in 2021. Manuel talked about this to Sports Illustrated. “I think especially as athletes, we sometimes think that taking rest is a sign of weakness, but with the grueling and daunting schedules that we have, it’s really important to listen to your body, but also your mind when you need to take some time for yourself.”

14. Allison Schmidtt

Fred Lee/Getty Images

Allison Schmidtt talked about how her diet changes due to her cycle to Orreco. “I didn’t realise how important carbohydrates were and the need to eat more carbohydrates around certain periods of training. So many coaches throughout my career told us that carbs are bad for you and make you fat. I didn’t learn that training the female body is different to training the male body. We have to train differently and eat differently to men, and that knowledge has given me such a big advantage to help understand my body and reach the highest peak.”

15. Olivia Smoliga

Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Olympian Olivia Smoliga shares her secrets for building confidence with Jolyn. “Don’t let the fear of failing stop you from doing what you want. Every time I stepped up on the blocks at Olympic Trials, the first time being when I was 17, I was so nervous! And that’s an understatement. At that time, there were no backstroke wedges so you just had to do a start on touchpads that had no gripping on them. So there was a huge chance I could slip. I practiced and practiced to make sure I wouldn’t, and yet I still thought about it as I walked out for the final. But I knew I wanted to be there! I knew I could do something special! No matter what my fears were telling me. And at those trials, I made it to the final of the 100 back. How will you know what you can do, if you never try? No one cares if you fall on your face. They will admire that you even had the courage to even go after your goals in the first place. You shouldn’t care what others think anyway, but let that give you some solace next time you wanna try something out of the ordinary.”

16. Cate Campbell

Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Cate Campbell is a world champion and holds a medal for the Olympic sprint freestyle. She tells Body & Soul that sleep is a big part of her wellness routine. “Having a good sleeping routine is really important for me. I make sure the TV is off at 9pm, then I listen to music while I clean the kitchen and get ready for bed. I try and make my bedtimes as consistent as possible during the week – especially if I have training the next morning.”

17. Stephanie Rice

Adam Pretty/Getty Images

Stephanie Rice won three gold medals at the 2008 Olympics. She shared how she trained for the Olympics with Body & Soul. “When I was training, everything was extreme and the focus was not on looking a certain way – it was on the actual performance element of looking like that, so food was fuel; it wasn’t an enjoyment thing. I needed X amount of calories, or X amount of protein for muscle recovery so it was very science based.”

18. Kathleen Baker

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Kathleen Baker is a champion in backstroke. She also has Crohn’s Disease. Baker tells Olympics.com that this has made her appreciate swimming a lot more. “Crohn's disease has given me an immense love and appreciation for my sport that I feel like you can really only have when you've had something taken away from you, or feel like it could be taken away from you. So when I compete, I compete for such a love of what I do and the process to get there, not only just the success or the racing, but truly just a love for my sport.”

19. Abbey Weitzeil

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Abbey Weitzeil won silver in the 2021 Olympics. She talked about how she overcomes challenges in an interview on Speedo’s website. “I train and do what I can control, and I tell myself that whenever I’m having a tough time… You’re going to have some good days and some bad days, and sometimes you’ll have bad weeks or months too. As long as you enjoy the ride and love what you do then these challenges are easier to face.”

20. Penny Oleksiak

Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Penny Oleksiak was the youngest Canadian to win at the Olympics. In an interview with Narcity, she revealed how she is recovering from knee surgery. “My focus kind of shifted. Right now I'm strengthening my knee still and still kind of working on that and trying to make sure it's always healthy. But right now my shoulders are kind of my biggest rehab thing that I'm getting over.”

Amanda Lamb is a TV host, best known for her work on A Place In The Sun. She and her family recently enjoyed a trip to Crete, Greece. Lamb shared some highlights on Instagram this week. In them, she enjoyed a day on the water. Lamb captioned the post, “Memories made, fears exercised.” How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 5 ways Amanda Lamb stays in shape and the photos that prove they work.

1. She Faces Her Fears

In her recent Instagram post, Lamb talked about overcoming some of her fears. She began the caption with, “Faced a few fears today… took a boat out on my own with the girls. Might not seem much but it was a big thing for me. Pootled round the bay, got up close to Spinalonga (which we’re visiting tomorrow) jumped off into water so deep we couldn’t see the bottom and handed over the reins/wheel thingy to the teen who amazed me with how good she was.”

2. She Swims

Lamb likes to swim to stay in shape. She shared this set of photos and videos on Instagram of herself having a pool day. Lamb captioned the post, “Continuing my love of dunking myself in various bodies of water. The pool at @casalasiesta has to be seen to be believed. Quiet, tranquil and mesmerising. I’ve barely been out of it. Highlight was early morning pre breakfast swim with coffee and book in hand and watching the swifts dive in for a drink.. swipe right to see.. they’re fast little buggers though, blink and you’ll miss him… will give you a tour soon once I’ve dragged myself back to reality…”

3. She Hikes

Swimming isn’t the only outdoor activity Lamb likes to do to stay in shape. She’s also a fan of hiking, and shares several hiking highlights on Instagram. In this set of photos, Lamb hikes Blackchurch Rock. She captioned the post, “Finally got down here. I’ve lived down here for 8 years and never managed to get to Blackchurch Rock. Go if you get the chance, it’s incredible and make sure you go at low tide so you can climb through and look like an awkward tourist.”

4. She Lives A Healthier Lifestyle

Shutterstock

In an interview with Closer, Lamb talked about how she lost weight and adapted to a healthier lifestyle. "I put on weight while filming A Place In The Sun in Europe. We'd go out boozing, and I was eating baguettes for lunch, followed by stodgy dinners…Since then, my weight has slowly returned to normal. I eat healthily and go to the gym four times a week. One day I’m going to write a book about how to [lose weight]. It will be called Eat Less; Move More. It’s not rocket science.”

5. She Gets Her Vitamin D

Vitamin D from the sun is vital as it helps regulate calcium and phosphorus absorption, promoting healthy bone growth and maintenance. Sunlight triggers a skin reaction that generates vitamin D, aiding immune function, cell growth, and reducing inflammation. Insufficient sun exposure can lead to deficiencies, linked to bone disorders like rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults. However, moderation is key due to sunburn and skin cancer risks. Balancing sun exposure, dietary sources, and supplements ensures adequate vitamin D levels for overall health.

1. Anna on Shetland

Rafferty credits her native Irish accent with landing her the breakthrough role of Anna on TV show Shetland. “They were looking for anyone foreign to the islands as per Anna's character in the original book and were really taken with my Irish brogue,” she says. I went home that month to Belfast for my 30th birthday and had a big do in the house when I received a text from the casting director to say I got offered the part. What a birthday present! My whole family were there when I got the text so it was really special. It’s great for them to be able to share in it all. They have supported me for so long in pursuing acting – from my granny to my wee brother of 12.”

2. The Great Outdoors

Rafferty likes to exercise outdoors whenever she can, and her social media is full of pictures of her hiking. “Light tends to elevate people's mood, and unless you live in a glass house or are using a light box to treat seasonal affective disorder, there's usually more light available outside than in,” say the experts at Harvard Health. “Physical activity has been shown to relax and cheer people up, so if being outside replaces inactive pursuits with active ones, it might also mean more smiles and laughter.”

3. Filming On Location

Rafferty loves being outdoors, and was thrilled to film on location for Shetland. “The indoor shots were all in Glasgow and then all the other shots were on the stunning Shetland Islands,” she says. “The set was always a happy place when you had a backdrop like that. I did have to pinch myself a bit when I looked around at the caliber of actors working with me as well as the director Peter Hoar. Dougie Henshall was great to have as a partner in those difficult police cell scenes and I learned a lot from his whole attitude to acting. He's also a gentleman. All the cast and crew had a scream holed up in the barren landscape with very accommodating country pubs including ceilidh nights organized by the locals. It has a very Irish feel in more ways than one.”

4. Marathon Runner

Rafferty loves to run, and has taken part in at least five marathons. “We’ve found that going for something like a two-mile run a few times a week gets you pretty much the full benefit of running in terms of lower mortality,” says Dr. James H. O’Keefe, director of preventive cardiology at St. Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo. “The growing consensus in the field is that the benefits of running start to accrue within minutes,” says Dr. Rajesh Vedanthan, associate professor of population health at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine. “The key message here is that any physical activity is much better than none.”

5. Lots of Swimming

Rafferty enjoys a dip in the pool, both for exercise and for fun. "Swimming is a wonderful sport. I definitely recommend swimming for people of all ages," says Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine expert Dr. Matthew Crowe. "Swimming is easy on the joints, and it's very good for both cardiac health and your core strength. And it also can give you really excellent strength around the shoulders, and hips and knees.”

Olympic swimmers have some of the most awe-inspiring physiques in the athletic world—and maintaining that much muscle requires a lot of discipline and hard work. Champions such as Michael Phelps became infamous for the amount of calories it took to fuel their training, but many other swimmers have their own method of being competition-ready. “The workouts are pretty intense and we're working out the whole time, there's no standing around, it takes a lot of dedication because it's hard to keep coming back to do those workouts. Swimming is so much different from other sports in that respect,” says Jason Lezak. From Ryan Lochte to Katie Ledecky, here’s exactly how 20 Olympic swimmers eat, train, and relax.

1. Michael Phelps

Shutterstock

Michael Phelps, 38, no longer eats 10,000 calories a day—but he stays active. “At the gym, my wife and I lift three days a week for about an hour to an hour and a half,” he says. “Then, the other days we typically do some type of cardio. We might do it together, we might not. She’ll do Pilates and yoga, whereas I’ll swim or hop on the elliptical or something." Phelps also loves spin classes. “I pound it. I went 30 straight days on the bike,” he says. “500 miles in 30 days, 1,100 minutes and 28,000 calories. I was just basically at the point I just was like, I’m just going to grind for a month and see what happens.”

2. Katie Ledecky

Shutterstock

Katie Ledecky, 26, swims 10 times a week—even during the pandemic lockdowns. “It’s quite a bit of training. It doesn’t really change in an Olympic year,” she says. “We have other big meets throughout the four-year, in this case five-year, cycle. This year was a little bit unique in that the first couple months of the pandemic we didn’t have our normal training facility, so I trained in a neighbor’s backyard pool for about three months. But I tried to stick to as close to a training routine as I could and [eventually] was back in my normal training environment and was back to that same routine.”

3. Caeleb Dressel

Shutterstock

Caeleb Dressel, 26, took advantage of the pandemic to reassess his diet. “It’s not like I was eating like trash earlier, but it’s easier now that I’m not fitting in 10 practices a week,” he said. “When I got out of the water in my old routine, I’m just looking for any food in sight to just stuff in my body – just very, very hungry. So right now, it’s a lot easier to kind of go through and pick out the right meals ahead of time.”

4. Chase Kalisz

Shutterstock

Chase Kalisz, 29, has been athletic his whole life. “I pretty much played every sport up until high school: soccer, basketball, lacrosse, swimming,” he says. “I was terrible at soccer, pretty good at lacrosse, basketball I never really focused on, I don't know why — my dad played basketball in college — but basketball just never really did it for me. Swimming was always my year-round sport and the other ones were more seasonal. I enjoyed playing the other sports and I definitely enjoyed the practices of the other sports more than swimming.”

5. Jenny Thompson

Nick Wilson /Allsport

Jenny Thompson, 50, is a swimming veteran at this point and now works as an anesthesiologist. She still keeps all her medals on display at home. “I liked the challenge of seeing what I could change in my practice, or my training or my diet – all the things that go into peak performance,” she says. “Also, I really enjoy traveling the world, so that was a big motivator for me.”

6. Ryan Murphy

Shutterstock

Ryan Murphy, 28, knows athletic prowess is created in the kitchen. “On days I do doubles, I’ll wake up at like 5:20 am,” he says. “I’ll have a PowerBar and a banana before practice. After practice, I’ll come back or go to the dining hall and have some eggs, spinach, some fruit, usually some oatmeal, maybe some Greek yogurt with granola and fruit. And if I was pretty hungry, or I felt like I didn’t have enough fat in my diet for the day, I’d put in some almond butter. I scoff that down right after practice, just to make sure I’m immediately getting nutrients… Eating right was huge for me this past year, probably the first year that I really took diet seriously.”

7. Emma McKeon

Shutterstock

Emma McKeon, 29, has learned how to fuel her body for optimum performance. “If it was a Monday or a Friday, I’d be doing a one-hour gym session to work on my strength, so that when I get in the pool I can move through the water better and faster,” she says. “At times I used to just eat whatever I wanted, even when training, and I would end up being exhausted and not have enough energy to get through training sessions. So I have learnt what foods I need to eat and how much I need to eat to fuel my body, and learnt which foods to choose instead of filling up on things that aren’t going to fuel me for intense training.”

8. Ryan Lochte

Shutterstock

Ryan Lochte, 39, ate up to 10,000 calories a day at the height of his training. “When I’m training, on a given day it’s probably six to seven hours a day of training,” he said. “Four or five of it is usually in the swimming pool, and the rest is in the weight room or on dry land — whether I’m doing cardio or core work.”

9. Missy Franklin

Shutterstock

Missy Franklin, 28, trains several times a day. “I'm normally up around 6:30,” she says. “I like to get up before a morning workout and give myself time to wake up because I feel like that just really benefits my workout. So I'll wake up, watch the Today show, watch the news, have a good breakfast. Then we swim from 8 to 10 A.M., lift weights from 11 A.M. to noon, and then I'll try and get a nap in. I feel like it's so important to get rest in between workouts. It's not just about waiting until the end of the day and getting it all at night.” She then has another practice at 4pm.

10. Adam Peaty

Shutterstock

Adam Peaty, 28, likes to cook his own healthy meals. “I always eat before 7pm during training and cook myself whole grain rice, seaweed, salmon and prawns,” he says. “I cook loads of vegetables to have with it like asparagus and broccoli. If I haven’t had an avocado for lunch I normally have it for my dinner instead.”

11. Ariarne Titmus

Getty Images

Ariarne Titmus, 22, enjoys a gluten-free diet. “I do 3 weights sessions a week, and a couple of spin bike and core exercises almost every day,” she says. “Not only does this stuff complement my swimming, but it’s good for my mind too… On race day, I’m not superstitious about what I eat, I just try to get a good fuel source into me. Usually, I have a fried rice or pasta meal the night before, and I try to avoid meat as I feel it sits heavy in my tummy.”

12. Michael Andrew

Getty Images

Michael Andrew, 24, thrives following a low-carb diet. "I used to follow a 'see food' diet - if I see food, I eat it," he says. “But you will see a decline in your performance if you don't pay attention to how you're fueling. What you eat really affects everything. I remember when I was younger, I was just trying to get through tough workouts and I would always just physically feel dead. If you aren't properly fueling and refueling your body, all the work you're doing is for nothing."

13. Janet Evans

Getty Images

Janet Evans, 51, is all about working on her abs. “As an Olympian in swimming, our abs and our core are really important to us, so an ab core workout is something I always do at the end of every workout,” she says. “But I find that there are some things I traditionally cannot get. I can’t get my obliques really well, I can’t get my upper abs, I can’t get my lower abdominals, so what I find with the Flex Belt is that it really helps me get things that I might not get by getting down on the ground and doing traditional crunches and sit ups.”

14. Dara Torres

Getty Images

Dara Torres, 56, trains once a day these days. “I only train in the mornings, I don't train in the afternoons, so after I'm done training, I actually have chocolate milk,” she says. “It helps your recovery, believe it or not, and at my age, you definitely need recovery, so I drink those organic little chocolate milks; and then I also have one other thing called Fitness Nutrition Amino Acids. It really helps to build muscle and strength and it helps recovery. So when I have those things, I'm pretty much set.”

15. Inge de Bruijn

Getty Images

Inge de Bruijn, 49, is still active years after retirement. “I’m blessed to say that I’ve never had an injury in my swimming career, ever,” she says. “You have to take care of your body. You have to sleep well and eat right. You have to rest, take massages, do what’s best for you, and don’t let anything take away your energy.”

16. Allison Schmitt

Getty Images

Allison Schmitt, 33, overhauled her training philosophy for a more holistic approach. "This last year, I really focused on every little thing - every little detail - rather than just going to the pool, practicing, doing weights, going to my room and that's it," she said before the 2012 Olympics. "I was working on nutrition, getting enough sleep, concentrating. It really helped me get to the next level, and when I got to trials, I didn't feel like I was at trials. I felt like I was just at another swim meet."

17. Ian Thorpe

Shutterstock

Ian Thorpe, 40, hits the gym at least four times a week. “In terms of healthy eating, enjoying your food should be the first rule – so make sure you do, because then you value what you’re consuming,” she says. “I cook at home as often as I can, and if I have time, I love preparing [my meals for the week] all day on a Sunday. This is so my easiest option is always to do something at home – and even if it’s a frozen meal, it’ll still be better than going out to a restaurant or getting a takeaway.”

18. Libby Trickett

Shutterstock

Libby Trickett, 38, eats plenty of healthy carbohydrates. "[Fruits and vegetables are] really important for vitamins, minerals and fiber, and fruits in particular are a great food to snack on in between training sessions to satisfy sugar cravings and hunger pangs," she says. "It's important for me to have a lot of protein and carbs with regards to training and recovery. But it's also important not to have too many and that's a little trial and error."

19. Cate Campbell

Getty Images

Cate Campbell, 31, mixes up her workouts. “To complement my training schedule (which includes nine swim sessions, three gym sessions and two spin bike sessions) I have a weekly massage and physio session,” she says. “I also do Pilates once or twice a week, and I swear by it. I really enjoy having an ice bath after the gym (and when I say really enjoy, I mean: I like the fact that an ice bath reduces my muscle soreness the next day…I do not enjoy getting in the actual ice bath!).”

20. Jason Lezak

Shutterstock

Jason Lezak, 47, is still much into a good training regimen. “I'm back into the full-time routine as far as training goes,” he says. “I swim 5 times a week for about 2 hours, I lift 3 times a week for about an hour and I do some cardio about 3 times a week for about half an hour. I don't really count calories. I do eat a lot. I eat about 5 times per day. Not all meals are huge meals. I eat before and after workouts. I have a snack before workout, I'll eat dinner after and then maybe a snack before bed.”