The five-egg breakfast behind a competitive triathlete’s dream

For Melbourne triathlete Charlie McSwain, the road to professional racing starts with scrambled eggs on toast, with a twist.

Charlie McSwain is an aspiring triathlete from Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, pursuing the dream of a professional career in the sport.

Being active has always been an important part of his life. He started running at the age of five, competed in his first triathlon as a teenager and turned to bodybuilding in 2022 at the age of 18.

“The running took a back seat when I started going to the gym and taking that seriously,” Charlie said.

But a change in routine has seen him return to the competitive triathlon circuit to chase podium finishes.

“I started back up again about nine months ago,” He said

“I was getting bored of just lifting and a mate and I decided to sign up for the 2025 Melbourne Half Ironman.”

Since then, Charlie has made rapid progress towards his professional aspirations. He competed in the Geelong Half Ironman on 22 March, where he placed second in his division with an elite time of 4 hours 11 minutes.

In a normal week of training, he spends more than 20 hours split between cycling, swimming and running. To fuel these intense sessions, he has had to refine his nutrition and energy intake.

“The most important thing that a lot of people get wrong is that they don’t eat enough. The professionals often talk about relative energy deficiency, which basically means you’re not eating enough to give your body the energy it needs to train.”

Charlie’s favourite cooked breakfast is five scrambled eggs on toast with a spread of Promite. The meal delivers about 820 calories and more than 30 grams of protein, exactly what he needs after a long session.

“Whenever I’ve got time to cook, I’m always having that. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

The finishing touch – a slice of tomato if he has one available.

“I love it, I’ve been having it for years. If you don’t have Promite, you can replace it with Vegemite. The recipe is from my best mate’s family, I had it this morning actually.”