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Jerome Smith and Lewis Carter
When Jerome Smith, 71, was in college, he admired the guys on the swim team.
“They seemed to be the happiest and healthiest guys on campus,” he said. The team at his small college had a no-cut policy. He joined even though he did not have much experience.
He ended up quitting. However, he had no idea how much the sport would affect him later in life.
In his 50s, Mr. Smith started swimming again to honor a bucket list he had made. A 2009 heart attack set him back, though. Now, he hits the pool every day with Southern California Aquatics. His heart never has been better,” he says.
“Best exercise in the world. The high after swimming is incomparable. That feeling carries over into my work. I approach it with much more enthusiasm,” said Mr. Smith, an arborist.
Southern Caifornia Aquatics holds workouts all over the Los Angeles area, including The Plunge.
Cardiologist Robert Merz, who along with Mr. Smith swims at The Plunge, said coronary disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S.
Regular aerobic exercise is a long step toward prevention, along with a healthful diet and abstention from smoking.
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Dr. Robert Merz
Dr. Merz, of the Pacific Heart Institute, said swimming is an exercise people can continue into mid-adulthood and beyond, unlike injury-prone sports such as football and basketball. It is an alternative for those who have joint problems from other activities such as jogging or riding a bike.
Lewis Carter, 77, is another who reaped the health benefits of swimming at a later age.
“I wasn’t feeling well,” he said. “I was eating too much, I had sleep apnea, and I ran off the road a few times.
“I damn near killed myself.”
After his doctor said he needed an exercise plan, Mr. Carter, then in his 60s, hired a coach to teach him how to swim.
He improved so much that the coach recommended he join a group workout. He started swimming with Southern California Aquatics in 1996. By 2009, he was setting a U.S. Masters world record in the 400 medley freestyle relay with his teammates — 18 months after knee surgery.
“Swimming has awakened in me that I’m extraordinarily competitive,” Mr. Carter said. “If you had asked me five or 10 years ago, I would have said that I was very easygoing.”
Whether you are seven or 77 years old, swimming has positive health benefits at any age. Not only does it improve the health of people with heart diseases, it can help with arthritis, diabetes and mental clarity as well.
Mr. Carter said it well: “It makes me feel very alive.”
Find a Southern California Aquatics workout near you at http://www.swim.net/scaq.cfm and sign up for a free trial.
Ms. Artley may be contacted at news@swim.net
