Olympic diving hopeful Milo French admits he has had a significant head start on the competition when it comes to nutrition.
The Verwood prospect has enjoyed the benefit of having a chef for a father, who ensures he is adequately fuelled to fulfil his bold ambition of representing Team GB.
As a member of Aldi’s Rising Stars programme – an initiative that supports 20 young athletes by providing a financial award to help with training and competition costs, while also delivering personal development opportunities to many athletes through workshop sessions – French is now reaping additional benefits as he continues to embark on his journey.
The programme allowed him to attend a unique Taste Kitchen workshop at Aldi’s Atherstone HQ, providing him with valuable insight into fuelling an athlete’s body for training and competing, as well as top tips for recipes, batch cooking and eating on the go.
That’s 4 months in a row and still going strong 💪🏼 https://t.co/PuvnG7EPpm
— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) October 6, 2022
French, who first burst onto the diving scene with a stunning result in Montreal in 2019, said: “Having my dad is very helpful. Obviously you just ask him to cook something, and he’ll cook it up really nice, so I always know when I get home after training I’ll have something nice to eat, which is really good.”
On the benefits of attending the workshop, French added: “I’ve found cheaper methods for having healthier food here today because quite often, we’ll spend a lot of money on food which isn’t nutritionally beneficial.
"Finding cheaper methods and different ways to intake nutrition is really important – whether it’s a smoothie or wrap with healthy vegetables, it’s all been really useful.”
The Rising Stars athletes will receive financial support through Aldi, as well as a monthly food voucher, to fuel them through training, competitions and to future Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Aldi have a top 10 shopping list of affordable, healthy items recommended by nutritionists, Nigel Mitchell and Jenny Tschiesche – both of whom attended the event to help French develop a better understanding of nutritious foods key for training, skills for cooking and how to maximise his monthly Aldi vouchers.
French learned that eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming, with Tschiesche and Mitchell taking him and his fellow athletes through multiple recipes throughout the day.
French’s mum, Zoe - whose gym sessions granted a young French exposure to a life in gymnastics before switching to diving - was also in attendance in Atherstone.
She shared her son’s assessment on the major value of the workshop, adding: “As a parent you tend to try and investigate things and take more interest in nutritional stuff when it's explained.
"I think the session has helped me remember a few things that I ought to do better at home that we perhaps don’t.
"We've been guilty recently of relying on protein powders after training, so I was quite interested to hear their views on those. I think we'll back off from that a bit and go back to homemade protein snacks and bananas.”
Aldi is the Official Supermarket Partner of Team GB and ParalympicsGB and have partnered with Team GB since 2015, ParalympicsGB since 2022 and will be supporting them through to Paris 2024
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here