Swimmer Janet Evans Will Try for 2012 London Olympics

I'm 41, and I'm not thinking about competing in the 2012 London Olympics, that is not the case with 40-year old swimmer Janet Evans.

This is from a USA Today piece on Evans:

Four-time Olympic gold medalist Janet Evans is cranking out the miles again in the pool and pushing the limits about how late in life active people can excel. After retiring following the 1996 Olympics, she took one of the longest competitive layoffs on record. She started training again 10 months ago in hopes of qualifying for the U.S. Olympic swim trials and competing in the 2012 Olympics.

"Always in the back of my mind, I thought I'd like to qualify again," says Evans, who is regarded as the best female distance swimmer in history. "It's been a more positive experience than I can even say."

Although she turns 40 on Aug. 28, do not rule her out, fitness experts say. Her coach describes the strength of the former world record holder as outstanding — and improving. She's competing in a sport that is less of a grind on the body than many sports, and she is injury-free. She is not at Olympic speeds yet, but she is breaking masters records in the 400- and 800-meter freestyle events.

This appears to be a new trend in sports.  Athletes are still capable of competing at high levels, even into their 40's.

Evans says she wouldn't be doing this is she wasn't injury-free.  "When I was thinking about coming back, I read fitness articles that said the only thing really preventing people from competing later in life is being injured," she says. "A lot of swimmers have shoulder injuries, but I haven't had those."

It's those strong shoulders and coach, Mark Schubert, at the pool in Huntington Beach, Calif. She swims about 10 miles a day to train for distance events requiring tremendous stamina. She owned those events in her teens and early 20s, setting world records that stood nearly 20 years until new, faster swimsuits helped break them.

Her times are among the world's 100 best. "I don't feel 40 when I get into the pool," she says. "I feel like my old self."

Japanese tennis pro is another example that older can be better.  The 40-year old spent 11 years off the tennis circuit, but she is back and beating players less than half her age.

She thinks back on her younger days fondly.  "It was a long time ago. I had a lot of confidence then," Date-Krumm said. "Of course I was much younger and all of the muscles and the shots -- they were better then than now. But I'm enjoying my tennis more now than I did back then."

“How we age is 30 percent genetics and 70 percent under our direct control,” says orthopedic surgeon Vonda Wright, author of “Fitness Over 40” and director of the Performance and Research Initiative for Masters Athletes, a University of Pittsburgh program aimed at helping older sports enthusiasts exercise effectively.

“Baby boomers get that, and they want control — they’ve always wanted control. But sports medicine doctors haven’t caught on that these athletes want to hear how to keep playing — not why to stop playing.”
“The fact is,” she adds, “a 75-year-old athlete may still perform many times faster and be in better health than a sedentary 30- or 40-year-old.”

We senior athletes are a stubborn bunch — and there are more of us every day. The fastest-growing demographic for fitness club membership is people over age 55, according to the International Health & Racquet Sportsclub Association. In 2005, the number of 55-and-older members was 8 million; in 2009 it was 10.3 million. Aging athletes are competing at every level, from local 10-Ks and tournaments to elite competitions such as the Summer National Senior Games, where in June some 10,000 athletes from ages 50 to 101 participated in 18 events, including basketball, pole vaulting and triathlon. (The 101-year-old competed in shotput, javelin, discus and hammer throw.)

This may be the exception more that rule, but it shows it's never too late to get in shape and compete.

Good luck to Janet Evans, she help light the torch at the Olympics here in Atlanta in 1996, she may soon be attending another Opening Ceremonies.

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[Sport Management Course]

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