Swim your age

Rowan Clarke finds out why swimming is the elixir of youth

There’s a pervasive stereotype of the older swimmer. Dry-haired, bobbing breaststroke, sedate, gently swimming lengths of the local pool. And yet, out there in our pools, oceans, lakes and rivers, older people are rinsing swimming records, defying expectations and smashing stereotypes.

It’s partly down to water being such a great leveller, holding bodies of all ages and allowing freedom of movement otherwise denied on land. But it’s deeper than that. Being in water improves health and wellbeing, creates connections, allows us to learn new skills and discover new versions of ourselves regardless of age.

It also allows swimmers of any age to achieve sporting ambitions and physical prowess that they might have thought they’d left in their youth. So much so, that rather than parents supporting their children at swimming events, it seems more common to find children waiting to greet their parents – and often their grandparents – at finish lines. With no upper age limit, what can older swimmers achieve? And why is swimming well beyond retirement so bloody brilliant?

Beating aging

In January, 73-year-old Jerrie Roberts became the oldest person to swim an ice mile. In April, Otto Thaning, who holds the record for the oldest person to swim the English Channel at a mere 73, swam from Robben Island to Cape Town at the age of 80. Last November, Elizabeth Fry became the oldest person to complete the Ocean’s Seven at the age of 60.

If you’re thinking that completing the Ocean’s Seven at 60 doesn’t seem that old then you’re right. And, if you think that 60 sounds pretty old, you’re also right.

That’s because aging is incredibly nuanced. Unlike adolescence, which is predictable to within a few years, we age at a unique rate starting from our 30s. And, while studies show trends, such as 25 being our physical peak and muscle mass declining after 40, the truth is, nobody knows exactly how we age. Most gerontologists (people who study aging) put it down to how influences throughout our lives such as genetics, environment, culture, illness, diet, exercise and leisure interact.

With so much nuance, it’s hard to know for sure whether or not people like Jerrie Roberts, Otto Thaning and Liz Fry have a genetic advantage that allows their bodies to endure cold water and swim long distances later in life. Or, do they have better endurance because they’ve continued swimming consistently into older age?

That physical activity lowers health risks as we age is a universal truth. Swimming regularly improves our fitness, flexibility and strength. For older people, that means better sleep and mobility, lower risk of illness and disease, and less chance of injury from falls.

“I think the main thing when you’re older is your balance goes and if you’ve got poor balance, that’s when things start breaking,” says Lynn, Brighton Swimming Club’s 80-yearold synchro teacher. “Luckily, I’m made of rubber. I swear I’m made of rubber because all the times I’ve fallen over, I just stand up.”

But physical fitness is just a small part of the reason swimming is so good for us as we get older. As research shows us that many aspects of our mental health, understanding and attitudes can actually improve with age – life satisfaction peaks at 69, body confidence at 70 and psychological wellbeing at 82 – research published in 2021 looked at what motivated masters’ swimmers in their 60s to 80s, and found joy, intrinsic motivation, high perceptions of ability and social satisfaction.

Wonderful water

It’s important at this point to pause for a little appreciation for water. While octogenarians do run marathons, water is uniquely enabling because it allows us full movement and offers resistance while bearing our weight.

“If you don’t support your muscles, the rest of you is going to fall apart. It’s that simple. The bottom of my spine is gone, basically. And if I didn’t have the muscle power I’ve got, then I wouldn’t be walking,” says Lynn. “I can still do the splits. I do them every year on my birthday. I can also put my legs apart and put my head on the floor.”

Being able to do the splits in your 80s is amazing. But it’s not about defying the aging process so much as retaining some kind of control over it. In other words, Lynn shows how swimming enables us to not only slow our physical decline, but to also work around wear and tear, maintain fitness and learn new skills, which is as much about mindset as physicality.

“I think the cold water therapy helps my various aches, pains and old injuries,” says 66-year-old sea swimmer, Mark. “I’ve realised that I have to keep exercising – the moment I stop, I reckon I’m bedbound. I still run but it takes me longer to get over any injuries, which I get more frequently, so I see swimming as a way of staying active longer.”

Being in water is also about playing, having fun, socialising, learning new skills, the sensation of being in water and belonging to a group, which all contribute to good mental health, wellbeing and longevity.

“After a back injury, I taught myself front crawl and stretched the distance to a mile. I joined the Brighton Swimming Club as I could walk down to the beach, swim, shower and then go to work,” says Ian, a 77-year-old swimmer who’s been swimming three times a week since the nineties. “A swimming lesson with Claire in the endless pool next to Sea Lanes changed everything. I now swim with her words – don’t show the palms of your hands – ringing in my ears. I swim with a slower stroke but faster time and enjoy it more than ever.”

Joining in

Research shows that a sense of belonging and fellowship not only encourages consistent activity, but also improves mental health, wellbeing and cognitive function as we age. Over the past few years, this has been reflected in the remarkable rise in social swimming groups, organisations and clubs. Take a look at the Bluetits, for example.

Over the last decade, this social organisation has gained well over 100,000 members, its inclusive ‘flock’ characterised by its joy of being in water. It’s through these groups and organisations that many older swimmers find their way back into swimming. Through the support, warmth and encouragement of like-minded people, they move beyond the many barriers that may have stopped them from swimming, from work and family commitments to illness and selfconsciousness to discover – or rediscover – the joy of being in the water.

Part of this joy is often nostalgia, harking back to childhood memories of jumping into the sea, rivers or lakes. This nostalgia is important as we age. According to psychologists, it affirms symbolic connections with a younger version of ourselves, friends, lovers and families, making us feel more loved and protected, reducing anxiety and enhancing our social skills.

For swimmers joining or rejoining longstanding swimming clubs like Brighton’s – the oldest swimming club in England, which started in the sea in 1860 – that sense of nostalgia is incredibly powerful.

“The sea was a place to grieve after my parents died – the salt water met my tears with kindness and acceptance,” says 66-year-old Charlotte, who swam around Brighton Pier on her wedding day. “I swim with friends so it’s sociable and supportive and fun.”

“My mother joined the swimming club in 1920,” says Lynn, whose family is Brighton Swimming Club royalty. “My grandparents joined every one of their grandchildren to the swimming club within a week of them being born… I was pushed in at birth, practically! I was probably taken at six months, but I could swim by the time I was two or three, same as my son.”

Whether that sense of belonging is literal and intimate such as being part of a small group or team, or much bigger such as being part of a community, tribe, ‘flock’ or tradition, is important for all ages. But for people post-retirement, whose children have left home, who may be divorced or widowed or lonely for whatever reason, it can be a lifeline.

“The last thing you want when you’re older is to be locked in the house – you need to get out every day,” said Doug, in the beautiful short film Tide and Time by Isabelle Rose Povey. “Because one day, and it happens to all of us, you’re not going to be able to and you’re delaying that day.”

Reaching goals

For Doug and his fellow swimmers in Tide and Time, swimming in the sea every day with his little group was about accountability. That sense of turning up for your friends, if not for yourself.

Most of us need to be accountable to something. It’s one of the reasons people enter swim events or take on challenges, to train for goals and push ourselves. And, if you’ve been goal driven your entire life, what happens when you retire or you’re injured out of another sport?

From doing the splits every birthday to swimming an ice mile or the Ocean’s Seven, being in water enables us to set and meet goals no matter how big or small. And that allows us to achieve, learn, grow and feel ourselves no matter how old we are.

“I like being the oldest to have done this record because I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon,” Liz Fry told the Guinness World Records. “I feel like I’m swimming like a 40-year-old. It just shows how 60 really is the new 40, or there’s no reason you ever have to stop doing what you love.”

Swimming might not be the elixir of life in that it doesn’t grant eternal life. But if it brings us a sense of joy and belonging, allows to reach new goals and makes us feel bloody brilliant at any age, it’s as good as.