Swimmer Luana Alonso, Called "The Next Livvy Dunne," in Workout Gear Poses at Paris Olympics

Luana Alonso is heating up the Olympics in her swimsuit. In a new social media post the Paraguayan swimmer who is a student at the University of Texas shows off her amazing figure in a bathing suit. “Last one, fast one ;)” the swimmer, who Sports Illustrated dubbed the “next Livvy Dunne,” captioned the series of Instagram snaps. How does she approach diet, fitness, and self-care? Here is everything you need to know about her lifestyle habits.

1. Swimming

Spending hours in the pool every day helps the breaststroker keep her curves in check. 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, says the CDC. In addition to the many physical benefits, there are multiple studies supporting the mental health benefits of swimming as well.

2. Jet Skiing

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Luana enjoys jet skiing. During a trip to Doha she showed off her skills. According to Health Fitness Revolution, the average 150-pound rider will burn a surprising 238 calories during a half-hour ride. The sport is also great for cardiovascular endurance.

3. Strength Training

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Luana keeps her body ready for the pool by putting in hours at the gym. Strength training is a big part of her routine. According to the Mayo Clinic, strength and weight training help reduce body fat, preserve and increase lean muscle mass, and burn calories more efficiently. Strength training may also help you:

• Develop strong bones
• Manage your weight
• Enhance your quality of life
• Manage chronic conditions
• Sharpen your thinking skills

4. Coffee

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Luana regularly shares Instagram Stories of herself drinking coffee. According to the Cleveland Clinic, there are several benefits of drinking coffee in moderation. “It acts on your brain to improve memory, mood, reaction times, and mental function,” they say, citing a study finding that caffeine can improve endurance and performance during exercise. It is also antioxidant-rich, can ward off diabetes, prevent neurologic disease, lower cancer risk, and ward off depression, they point out.

5. Well Balanced Diet

Luana maintains a well balanced diet, eating mostly super healthy food but also indulging. She regularly shares photos of her meals via her Instagram Stories. They include sushi, salads with protein, Acai bowls, hamburgers, hibachi, avocado toast, and tacos.

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.”

Olympic gold medalist Simone Manuel is preparing for Paris 2024 by hitting the gym, lifting weights, and (of course) swimming. Manuel, 27, shared a picture of herself wearing black patterned shorts and a Team USA shirt, posing for a selfie in a gym surrounded by strength training equipment. “Week 1 ✔️💙🗻❄️,” she captioned the post. “Keep it going Simone we are all cheering for you to come back stronger and better. 💪🏽🏊🏽‍♀️,” a fan commented. Here’s what Manuel’s diet, exercise, and training regimen looks like. Spoiler alert: It’s intense!

1. Swimming Training

Manuel trains for 20 hours a week and takes Sundays as her rest day. “I do doubles on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, with one swim practice in the morning and another in the afternoon,” she told Equinox. “I spend a total of three hours in the pool each of those days. On Wednesdays, I do a light swimming routine. Thursdays and Saturdays, I’m in the water for up to two hours each.”

2. Lifting Weights

Manuel lifts weight for one hour on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. “Every session starts with ankle and quad stretches,” she told Equinox. “Then I’ll do a second warm-up that focuses more on activation, which might include dead squats, hangs on the pull-up bar, or shoulder stability work. For that, I’ll lie on my side and do lateral raises with a weight to prep those muscles.”

3. Swimmer’s Strength Training

Manuel’s weight training regimen is designed to complement her swimming. “I try to hit the shoulders, core, and legs in every strength workout because they’re all really important for swimming,” she told Equinox. “I’m a sprinter, so I mostly do powerlifting to make me more explosive. I really like heavy barbell squats and cleans. To avoid putting on too much muscle, I keep the reps low, completing five or six sets of two reps each. I usually superset those with plyometric work like high jumps or medicine ball throws and slams.”

4. Protein and Fats

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Manuel loves a protein and healthy fat-packed breakfast. “My favorite breakfast is avocado toast with over-medium eggs,” she told NBC Olympics. “Lunch is usually a nice salad with chicken or salmon. And dinner can be pasta or rice and beans with another nice salad. I also love Greek yogurt and fresh fruit for snacks as well as acai and smoothies.”

5. Advice For Swimmers

Manuel has good advice for aspiring professional swimmers. “Get in the pool and get proper swim lessons,” she told NBC Olympics. “Continue to work at your craft. Believe in yourself and don’t let anyone or anything stand in your way. You can do anything if you believe in yourself and work hard to achieve your goals. I’m working to inspire more minority swimmers to get in the sport. But I’m hoping that I have inspired many others outside of my sport.”

From gymnastics to swimming, track and field to boxing, these athletes have honed their bodies to perfection. Discover their secrets, from unique training routines and dietary preferences to mental resilience and recovery strategies. Each champion, like Simone Biles challenging societal beauty norms or Sue Bird's dedication to an anti-inflammatory diet, offers a unique perspective on what it takes to reach the pinnacle of athletic achievement. Join us on this journey into the exceptional lives of these remarkable athletes.

1. Simone Biles

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While Simone Biles may compete in gymnastics, she doesn’t believe in competing with other women in society. She talked about this on Instagram. "Let’s talk about competition," she shared. "Specifically the competition I didn’t sign up for and feel like has become almost a daily challenge for me. And I don’t think I’m the only one. In gymnastics, as in many other professions, there is a growing competition that has nothing to do with performance itself. I’m talking about beauty.”

2. Katie Ledecky

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Swimmer Katie Ledecky tells Shape that she does a full-body strength training workout three times a week. "It's pretty full-body because that's what swimming is," explains Ledecky. "I think core strength is incredibly important in swimming — it's that connecting piece between your arms and legs. So we work on strength and we work on power because you have to have that power coming out of the starting blocks and on all of the turns, as well as a good jump."

3. Allyson Felix

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Track and field star Allyson Felix tells Women’s Day that she’s changed her approach to training as she’s gotten older. “I think when I was younger I always felt like I wanted to do as much as I could — quantity was everything — and now that I’m older, and as a mom, it’s really quality over quantity. It’s about training smarter. For me, being able to focus on recovery allows me to come back and get quality work the next day as well.”

4. Mikaela Shifrin

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Skier Mikaela Shifrin talked about her training process to Sports Illustrated. She says that before a competition, she likes to eat pasta. “I feel a lot more energy in every way for the race,” she explains. “That’s a theory I believe in.”

5. Claressa Shields

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Boxer Claressa Shields shares her fitness secrets with Muscle and Fitness. “My boxing routine requires strength and conditioning workouts in the morning. Then I’ll train again with another two- to three-hour boxing session. I’ll hit the bag or pads with my coach and work on certain combinations. Then it’s working on the game plan and watching film. All that is about three hours. At the end of the day, there may even be a nighttime session or just an early morning session the following day.”

6. Sakshi Malik

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Wrestler Sakshi Malik shared her workout and training secrets with GQ. “Fitness is the most important thing – it is impossible to perform if you’re not fit,” she says. “This sport is so tough that you require each part of your body to be strong. While power and strength need to be constantly worked on, I like to work on my techniques quite a bit. In addition, it is also important to work on your mental strength and discipline. In a sport like wrestling, you need to make split decisions to go into attack or defense, and without the right focus, you can’t achieve this.”

7. Elaine Thompson-Herah

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Track and field star Elaine Thompson-Herah works with trainer, Stephen Francis, to keep her in Olympic shape. She says that Francis has really helped with her career. "I don’t know what it was but Stephen saw something in me that I did not see,” Thompson-Herah told World Athletics. “He told me I could do better in training and that I was not producing the times on the track that I should be. He told me not to be scared of people, be less serious, smile more and shake it up."

8. Dina Asher-Smith

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Track and field athlete Dina Asher-Smith shared her training secrets with Runner’s World. She says that there’s one type of workout she avoids. “I don’t lift weights. There are lots of other ways to get power. It’s not about how much weight you can throw around, but how well you use the power that you have.”

9. Erin Jackson

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Speed skater, Erin Jackson, shared her mindset when she trains with Shape. “My inline coach from back in Florida, Renee Hildebrand…used to always say, 'Perfect practice makes perfect,'" says Jackson. "It's not just 'Practice makes perfect' — if you practice something the wrong way, then you're just going to reinforce the wrong way. That's something I've held onto over the years, to make every practice count."

10. Brittany Bowe

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Recovery is important to speed skater, Brittany Bowe. She shared her favorite ways to do so with SELF. “After a tough day, I’ll get into an epsom salt bath. I put some lavender oil in there. I typically use Dr. Teal’s Epsom Salt in a few different combinations, and especially enjoy the lavender. I’m definitely a bath person—I take a couple baths a week to wind down.”

11. Naomi Osaka

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Tennis star, Naomi Osaka, likes to make smoothies before and after she works out. She shared some of her go-to ingredients with Us Weekly. ​​“My favorite fruits to add in are strawberries, blueberries, and a frozen banana – sometimes I add mangoes,” she said. “My go-to trick is, if fruits are starting to go bad, rather than waste them I cut them up and place them in portion-sized baggies and freeze them so they are ready to go for my shakes. In addition to some ice, I add in BODYARMOR LYTE Coconut for some extra vitamins and antioxidants.”

12. Jade Jones

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Taekwondo athlete, Jade Jones shared her post-lockdown training process with Women’s Fitness. “I’m making sure that everything I do is so I’m in the best possible shape for when it’s my time to fight in July. I train Monday to Friday, usually twice a day. I put in as much as I can into each session, and then try to recover corr,ectly, get the right amount of sleep, eat the right things, and take my Bioglan supplements to keep myself healthy. Knowing I’m doing all I can to be at my best gives me confidence and is part of my mental preparation.”

13. Rose Lavelle

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Soccer player Rose Lavelle opened up about her training process to Well + Good. She says that she values her recovery time. “Today, rest is vital and I can’t play as much as I did as the load is so much more,” she says. “Now it’s a balance, and I have to prioritize the off-field piece and everything that I’m doing to help best prepare my body to be able to perform on the field.”

14. Kelsey Mitchell

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Kelsey Mitchell tells the National Post that she eats a lot of protein to help with her cycling. “Protein is obviously super important. But I think that’s the one thing that’s ingrained in us in society. It’s like, if you’re working out and you’re lifting, you’re tearing those muscle fibres — you need protein to build it back up. I kind of struggled with figuring out that I needed carbs for energy.”

15. Ginny Thrasher

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Gold medal rifle shooter, Ginny Thrasher, talked about her wellness routine in the caption of this Instagram post. She says that she doesn’t like to take supplements. “Regarding supplementation, I personally take a minimalist approach. I try to get my nutrients from my diet and whole foods, only using supplements as needed to help boost anything I need. People often ask what specific supplements rifle shooters should take, but I think it’s more about what’s PROVEN, NECESSARY, and SAFE rather than looking for a performance benefit that pills just won’t give you unless you need it.”

16. Marianne Vos

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Cyclist Marianne Vos talked about her approach to the Olympics in an interview with Soigneur. “I lost myself in my preparation for the Olympic Games. The satisfaction is temporary— I know that. When you wake up the day after winning the world championships, you are still Marianne. Winning a race does not necessarily make you happier. It is the road to it that counts.”

17. Emma McKeon

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Swimmer Emma McKeon talked about her diet and how it evolved to Rescue. “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.”

18. Cate Campbell

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Swimmer Cate Campbell shared some of her healthy habits with Body + Soul. She says that sleep is important to her. “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.”

19. Dana Vollmer

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In an interview with ESPN, Dana Vollmer talked about how she manages pain while swimming. “That's something over the course of my career I've had to learn: what is good pain and what is bad pain? The pain in burning from using your muscles is different than the pain of hurting something. The 50 free is short, that's why I'm doing it. And my doctor said there is really no risk at all. I made a joke about doing a belly flop and [the doctor] said even that would be fine. As long as I'm cautious with the warm-up and keep some space between myself and the other swimmers, that's really the only issue at all.”

20. Sue Bird

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Basketball star, Sue Bird, shared her wellness secrets with GQ. She says that while she believes in the 80/20 rule with her diet, she cuts out and limits some things. “I don't eat dairy, and I've been gluten-free ever since I took a blood test that showed I have a mild allergy to gluten. I stick with all anti-inflammatory foods: tons of veggies, eggs, chicken and fish. I will have some red meat, but only every now and then. There’s very little sugar, if any, because I save that for my cheat days. I like rice bowls a lot. That's been my new thing this year—I’ll have some brown rice, sweet potatoes, chicken, and mixed veggies.”