DANIEL WONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Fourth-year
Anna Swanson will compete in a physique and
fitness tournament Dec. 1.
By Daniel Miller
Daily Bruin Contributor
Anna Swanson eats a lot of meat.
In fact, the main component of four of her five daily meals is
meat ““ whether it be top sirloin, ground turkey or chicken
breast.
So, when doesn’t she eat meat?
At breakfast, when she has 10 egg whites, two yolks and a cup of
plain oatmeal.
No, Swanson isn’t training for an eating contest; she is a
fitness competitor. Her sport requires the kind of dedication
necessary to wake up at 5 a.m. to cook all of her daily meals (she
eats every three hours) before heading to Gold’s Gym in
Venice Beach to train.
“The food doesn’t get boring ““ I don’t
mind dieting. For me, it’s a part of my training,” said
Swanson, a fourth-year sociology student at UCLA. “Having a
background in swimming for UCLA is helpful. I’ve competed and
dieted for other sports.
“This is a more difficult regimen, but it’s similar
to other sports.”
Swanson said she loved swimming at UCLA, which she did for two
years on a partial scholarship, competing in the sprint freestyle,
the 100-meter butterfly and the 200 individual medley.
“I was happy swimming, but I didn’t love it. It
became a job,” Swanson said. “I am definitely glad I
was on the team. It helped me become more disciplined.”
Swanson, who has been a fitness competitor for approximately
five months, will compete in her first regional fitness tournament
in the National Physique Committee when she performs at the Ironman
competition Dec. 1 at Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium in Culver
City, Calif. The top three finishers go to the national
competition.
Fitness competition is a showcase of one’s physique and
fitness abilities ““ which separates it from bodybuilding. A
routine includes many different dance and strength maneuvers.
Swanson’s trainer, Allen Grimes, feels she will do well at
the tournament.
“Her ability is excellent She’s going to be a great
fitness competitor,” Grimes said. “It’s her first
show and her skills are already at national level. Her strongest
points are her strength, her dedication and her
professionalism.”
Swanson performs her routine to music, and a deejay created a
hip-hop mix for her that includes music from Kurupt, Bubba Sparxx,
Fabolous and Nelly.
Swanson takes a variety of vitamins to help digest the massive
amounts of protein she consumes, and to supplement her diet. She
takes a bunch of vitamins with names that would score well in a
Scrabble game ““ like glutamine or glucose. She took a version
of creatine for women, but cut that out two weeks before the show,
because one retains water while taking creatine.
Swanson maintains a 3.3 GPA despite pursuing many activities in
addition to fitness competition. She works as a lifeguard on the
weekends at the Sunset Recreation pool and is an intern in the
advertising division at Mandalay Sports Entertainment. She also
models and acts, recently shooting her first national
commercial.
“She has to be one of the most dedicated people I have
ever met. She does not quit for anything and is very
disciplined,” friend and training partner Tosha Stanford
said. “She’s very disciplined with training and
dieting. She has an honest love for fitness.”
Swanson’s daily training regimen includes two hours of
cardiovascular exercise and an hour of weight training. She has
gymnastics practice three times a week with coach Yefim Furman, the
former men’s gymnastic coach at UCLA.
“Anna has real abilities, and she is learning very
fast,” Furman said. “I think she will have success
because she has talent.”
There are no weight classes in fitness competition; instead,
there are two height classes ““ above and below
five-foot-three. At 5-foot-5, Swanson competes in the
“tall” class. Since there are no weight classes,
competitors are more concerned with their body compositions than
weight.
Swanson used to have 19 percent body fat, and she is currently
at eight percent. She has gained six pounds of muscle over the past
five months.
“She is a good listener,” Grime said. “Out of
all the people I have trained, she has listened to me better than
anyone. She changed her physique and body fat percentage in six
weeks due to her dedication.”
Going to high school on Bainbridge Island in Washington, Swanson
always enjoyed weight training. Her high school swimming trainer
encouraged her to go into fitness competition, which sparked her
desire in college.
“Turning pro is my goal,” Swanson said. “It
seems that I have found my niche in the fitness world, which could
foster a successful career, with more hard work of
course.”
Even if that means eating a lot more steak.