So you think you’re TOO old to go for a swim

We’ve all heard that 40 is the new 20 and 60 is the new 40 and so on. The bottom line is that we are constantly being reminded that age is simply a number.

On Saturday - at the Victoria masters’ swim meet - I learned that 80 is the new 40-something.

As Jan was powering - impressively - through his 200-metre butterfly, an announcement was made: an 80-year-old man had just set a new world record in the 100m freestyle. That’s right 80.

No need to clean your computer screen. No need to have your eyes checked. Don’t worry about the water in your ears.

What time was that? Really? No, really?

Yup, 1.16.

Hmmmm. That’s two seconds faster than I had just swum and that was a personal best for me, and I was - and am - stoked about how well I’m swimming.

I’ll get back to that 80-year-old in a minute because as impressive as his performance was, he wasn’t alone.

There was a 90-94 age group at the meet. Yes, that’s right. A 92-year-old man who swam the 50m, 100m and 400m events. He outswam, easily, athletes less than half his age. (Thankfully I finished ahead of him - comfortably - in all three distances.)

Unfortunately I can’t say the same for the 50m breaststroke, which clearly is my achilles heel. I touched barely 3 seconds faster than a 76-year-old man. And I was slower than two of the three men in the 65-69 age group and the two men in the 70-74 age group. (Note to Jan: I’ll focus on freestyle, I think.)

Hmmmm.

No regrets. This was my first swim meet.

But this story isn’t about me. It’s about all the motivation that any of us need to be active.

Graham Johnston is the speedy 80 year old. He was born in South Africa and apparently learned to swim before the age of one. I’m not sure of that but I gather he’s been swimming for a long time.

Johnston, who now lives in Texas, has set more than 80 world records. He won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 1950. He swam at the 1952 Olympics. At the age of 60 he attempted - though was thwarted by cold temperatures - to swim the English Channel. He wasn’t deterred. At the age of 74 he became the oldest person to swim the Strait of Gibraltar - the 14km gap from Spain to Morocco.

You can’t help but be impressed. Here’s a guy who’s made being fit and healthy such a key part of his life that at the age of 80, his biological age is far far lower. That’s what I want. He can keep his records. I don’t need any records. Though I still plan to get faster so I’ll be back in the pool looking for more advice from Jan.

If I can feel as good as I do now when I’m 30-plus years older, I’d know that I’d really accomplished something - and hopefully I’ll have inspired, encouraged or helped motivate someone else to take better care of themselves.

It’s within all of our reach.

Thanks Jan and thanks Graham.