What’s in my Swim Bag: Caroline St-Pierre

Caroline St-Pierre is a rising triathlon star from Team Merrell, based out of Quebec. She began her triathlon career as a soccer-player-turned-runner and though the third leg of the race is always her favourite, she says the swim of the half distance is one of her specific strengths in the sport.

For this week’s What’s in My Swim Bag, we asked St-Pierre to fill us in on what she uses for her daily swim workouts.

1. Swim bag, swim suits, caps and goggles

I like my TYR swim bag, which is useful because it’s wide and I can carry it like a backpack. I always carry a spare swim suit in my bag just in case. Because of all the races I do, I end up with way too many caps. It’s important for me to always have at least one silicon cap for cold weather and one latex cap for warmer weather. I have light goggles for indoor training sessions and darker goggles for my open water swims.

2. TYR and FINIS training gear

A pull-buoy, paddles, fins and a snorkel are must-haves for a swimmer. I also usually have a band made of a used inner-tube but right now I’ve lost mine and haven’t had a flat tire in a while!

3. Small plastic pouch, elastic band, baby oil

This pouch would fit a cell phone, but I use it for when I’m swimming on my own and bring a little piece of paper by the pool with my workout on it, to keep it dry. The elastic band is useful for me to do a few rotator cuff exercises before I jump in the water, which help with an past shoulder injury. I use baby oil when I put on my wetsuit to avoid irritation around the neck. It also helps to strip off the wetsuit faster.

4. Bathing products, LG1 Gels, Lock

Most of these little bathing products are free samples we get at races. The gels are for emergency nutrition, and although I’m naive enough to believe that there are no thieves at public pools, a lane mate once warned me to always lock up my stuff!

You can follow Caroline on her blog in English or French.