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Never Too Old to Compete
Senior Olympics Comes to
Louisville
By Cheryl Stuck •
Photos by Ewa Wojtkowska
“I CAN’T SEE, BUT I CAN SWIM,”
SAYS Dorothy Riordan, who will be
age 95 when the Senior Olympics
are held this year in Louisville,
June 22–July 7. Dorothy has
macular degeneration. She isn’t
totally blind but can’t see well
enough to read, yet she will be
competing in six swimming events in
the upcoming games: the 50Y Free
(50-yard freestyle), 100Y Free,
200Y Free, 50Y Back (backstroke),
100Y Back, and the 100Y IM (individual medley), which will include the butterfly stoke,
the backstroke, the breaststroke, and freestyle.
As a child, Dorothy lived by a lake in Michigan and loved to play in the water, but she
wasn’t a swimmer. At age 65, she learned how to do real swimming strokes after moving
to Louisville and joining Lakeside Swim Club. Now, twice a week she takes the Tarc 3
bus for people with disabilities to Lakeside and swims for about an hour. “People ask me
why I stay in so long,” she said. “It’s because I can plop into the pool, but to get out, I
have to climb the ladder.”
Dorothy won the Gold medal in her age group at the qualifying competition at the
Kentucky Senior Games, held in Lexington last September. “I don’t think there was
anybody else in my age group,” she says. “When you get old, you just don’t have
competition.”
Mary Tingley Graves, manager of aquatic operations at Lakeside and one of Dorothy’s
coaches, says, “She is a role model. Whenever she competes there’s always a buzz of
discussion going on. She’s an idol to many.”
Mary has been swimming most of her life and will be one of the youngest competitors in
the Senior Olympics at age 50. Her events are the 50Y Free, 100Y Free, 200Y free, and
the 50Y Back, 100Y Back, and 200Y Back.
Like Dorothy, Sheldon Rein began participating in a new sport after his retirement.
About 12 years ago, a friend encouraged him to play tennis, so he took lessons once a
week for about five years. Now, he plays four to five times per week in 90-minute
sessions.
Sheldon enjoys playing tennis, but also sees it as a good form of exercise and means of
self-improvement. At age 76, he will compete in the Senior Olympics men’s tennis
doubles for his age group, 75-79, with his tennis partner, William Sabes.
In the past, Sheldon has competed in the United Tennis Association team matches for
senior men, and in 1990, his team won the Kentucky senior men’s tournament. They
also qualified and competed in a Southern sectional tournament in Mobile, Ala. and
earned a silver medal at the Kentucky Senior Games.
Sheldon hopes to win the Olympic competition, but will enjoy participating regardless.
Tom Higginbotham would love to win the gold for cycling, but he also values the health
benefits he gets from the sport. Tom recalls seeing retired employees return for visits to
the manufacturing plant where he worked, who had been adamant about “not going to
do anything. I’ve worked enough in my life,” but they would look much older in only a
year or two. “Some of them could hardly walk,” Tom says. After seeing those results,
Tom was determined not to let that happen to him.
Now that he’s retired, the 77-year-old says, “If you are going to be young, you gotta do
things that young people do.” So, he typically rides his bicycle about 20 miles per day,
but if practicing for a race, that distance can increase to up to 40 miles per day. If the
weather is bad, he moves his bike inside and uses a spinner that works with his bike, but
in a stationary position.
Over the past eight years, Tom has won 62 gold medals, 22 silver medals, and seven
bronze medals from his participation in a variety of events at the Senior Games,
including swimming, track, shot put, discus, horseshoes, and softball throw.
If you want to get involved in the Senior Olympics that will be held in Louisville June 22–
July 7, you can volunteer to help out. Various positions are available for more than
4,000 volunteers of all ages. Some of the duties may include assisting with athlete
services, like registration or assembling and distributing goodie bags. Others may help
with giving athletes water along the course, or managing volunteer check-in. There are
over 150 volunteer activities to choose from. All volunteers will receive special edition T-
shirts and other incentives based on the number of shifts they staff.
For more information: www.2007seniorgames.com (click on Volunteers”)
or call (502) 893-1940.
Go Get Inspired
From June 22 to July 7, Louisville will be hosting the 2007 Senior Olympics, which will
draw approximately 1,200 athletes over the age of 50 from all over the country to
compete in 18 different sports. The events will be held at various locations, but the
majority will be at the Kentucky Exposition Center and the University of Louisville. Some
others will be held at Louisville Metro Parks. Events include archery, badminton,
basketball, bowling, horseshoes, racquetball, shuffleboard, swimming, table tennis,
tennis, track and field, volleyball, cycling, golf, race walking, road racing, softball, and a
triathlon. The competitions are divided by age groups in five-year increments.
In order to qualify for the Senior Olympics, the athletes had to meet minimum
performance standards in prior competitions.
¬Athlete Village in the central wing of the Kentucky Expo Center will be the center of
activity where athletes will register, find official results, socialize, and visit sponsor
booths. A food court and an Internet lounge will be available for athletes, friends and
family. In the evenings, entertainment will be provided.Advice from a ProOlympic Gold
Medalist, Bruce Jenner will attend the Senior Olympics to support the athletes and
promote a new product called Euflexxa, an injectable treatment for osteoarthritis of the
knee, a condition Jenner suffers from.
Jenner broke the world record in 1976, scoring the most points in the decathlon and
earned the title of World’s Greatest Athlete. Although Jenner said he retired on that day,
he has since tried many different sports, like competitive tennis, racing cars, and now at
age 57, he enjoys mountain biking, playing golf, and light weight lifting. Today, his goal
is to stay active.
While he has found what works for him, he doesn’t push others to participate in those
sports, but advises, “For people to enjoy good health they’ve got to stay active and be
motivated. There are a million ways and your job is to find what you can do that you can
be active at. It can be walking or running with a friend. I’m a firm believer in the buddy
system when it comes to training. You don’t want to let each other down, so you become
a lot more consistent.” He said the key is to find something you enjoy.
Jenner thinks the Senior Games and other competitive events are great motivators. “It’s
a good reason to work out and people have a good time doing it because it’s
competitive, but not like doing the Olympics where it’s cutthroat. People are out there
meeting new friends; they have a mutual interest and are having some fun.”
Senior Olympics Comes to
Louisville
By Cheryl Stuck •
Photos by Ewa Wojtkowska
“I CAN’T SEE, BUT I CAN SWIM,”
SAYS Dorothy Riordan, who will be
age 95 when the Senior Olympics
are held this year in Louisville,
June 22–July 7. Dorothy has
macular degeneration. She isn’t
totally blind but can’t see well
enough to read, yet she will be
competing in six swimming events in
the upcoming games: the 50Y Free
(50-yard freestyle), 100Y Free,
200Y Free, 50Y Back (backstroke),
100Y Back, and the 100Y IM (individual medley), which will include the butterfly stoke,
the backstroke, the breaststroke, and freestyle.
As a child, Dorothy lived by a lake in Michigan and loved to play in the water, but she
wasn’t a swimmer. At age 65, she learned how to do real swimming strokes after moving
to Louisville and joining Lakeside Swim Club. Now, twice a week she takes the Tarc 3
bus for people with disabilities to Lakeside and swims for about an hour. “People ask me
why I stay in so long,” she said. “It’s because I can plop into the pool, but to get out, I
have to climb the ladder.”
Dorothy won the Gold medal in her age group at the qualifying competition at the
Kentucky Senior Games, held in Lexington last September. “I don’t think there was
anybody else in my age group,” she says. “When you get old, you just don’t have
competition.”
Mary Tingley Graves, manager of aquatic operations at Lakeside and one of Dorothy’s
coaches, says, “She is a role model. Whenever she competes there’s always a buzz of
discussion going on. She’s an idol to many.”
Mary has been swimming most of her life and will be one of the youngest competitors in
the Senior Olympics at age 50. Her events are the 50Y Free, 100Y Free, 200Y free, and
the 50Y Back, 100Y Back, and 200Y Back.
Like Dorothy, Sheldon Rein began participating in a new sport after his retirement.
About 12 years ago, a friend encouraged him to play tennis, so he took lessons once a
week for about five years. Now, he plays four to five times per week in 90-minute
sessions.
Sheldon enjoys playing tennis, but also sees it as a good form of exercise and means of
self-improvement. At age 76, he will compete in the Senior Olympics men’s tennis
doubles for his age group, 75-79, with his tennis partner, William Sabes.
In the past, Sheldon has competed in the United Tennis Association team matches for
senior men, and in 1990, his team won the Kentucky senior men’s tournament. They
also qualified and competed in a Southern sectional tournament in Mobile, Ala. and
earned a silver medal at the Kentucky Senior Games.
Sheldon hopes to win the Olympic competition, but will enjoy participating regardless.
Tom Higginbotham would love to win the gold for cycling, but he also values the health
benefits he gets from the sport. Tom recalls seeing retired employees return for visits to
the manufacturing plant where he worked, who had been adamant about “not going to
do anything. I’ve worked enough in my life,” but they would look much older in only a
year or two. “Some of them could hardly walk,” Tom says. After seeing those results,
Tom was determined not to let that happen to him.
Now that he’s retired, the 77-year-old says, “If you are going to be young, you gotta do
things that young people do.” So, he typically rides his bicycle about 20 miles per day,
but if practicing for a race, that distance can increase to up to 40 miles per day. If the
weather is bad, he moves his bike inside and uses a spinner that works with his bike, but
in a stationary position.
Over the past eight years, Tom has won 62 gold medals, 22 silver medals, and seven
bronze medals from his participation in a variety of events at the Senior Games,
including swimming, track, shot put, discus, horseshoes, and softball throw.
If you want to get involved in the Senior Olympics that will be held in Louisville June 22–
July 7, you can volunteer to help out. Various positions are available for more than
4,000 volunteers of all ages. Some of the duties may include assisting with athlete
services, like registration or assembling and distributing goodie bags. Others may help
with giving athletes water along the course, or managing volunteer check-in. There are
over 150 volunteer activities to choose from. All volunteers will receive special edition T-
shirts and other incentives based on the number of shifts they staff.
For more information: www.2007seniorgames.com (click on Volunteers”)
or call (502) 893-1940.
Go Get Inspired
From June 22 to July 7, Louisville will be hosting the 2007 Senior Olympics, which will
draw approximately 1,200 athletes over the age of 50 from all over the country to
compete in 18 different sports. The events will be held at various locations, but the
majority will be at the Kentucky Exposition Center and the University of Louisville. Some
others will be held at Louisville Metro Parks. Events include archery, badminton,
basketball, bowling, horseshoes, racquetball, shuffleboard, swimming, table tennis,
tennis, track and field, volleyball, cycling, golf, race walking, road racing, softball, and a
triathlon. The competitions are divided by age groups in five-year increments.
In order to qualify for the Senior Olympics, the athletes had to meet minimum
performance standards in prior competitions.
¬Athlete Village in the central wing of the Kentucky Expo Center will be the center of
activity where athletes will register, find official results, socialize, and visit sponsor
booths. A food court and an Internet lounge will be available for athletes, friends and
family. In the evenings, entertainment will be provided.Advice from a ProOlympic Gold
Medalist, Bruce Jenner will attend the Senior Olympics to support the athletes and
promote a new product called Euflexxa, an injectable treatment for osteoarthritis of the
knee, a condition Jenner suffers from.
Jenner broke the world record in 1976, scoring the most points in the decathlon and
earned the title of World’s Greatest Athlete. Although Jenner said he retired on that day,
he has since tried many different sports, like competitive tennis, racing cars, and now at
age 57, he enjoys mountain biking, playing golf, and light weight lifting. Today, his goal
is to stay active.
While he has found what works for him, he doesn’t push others to participate in those
sports, but advises, “For people to enjoy good health they’ve got to stay active and be
motivated. There are a million ways and your job is to find what you can do that you can
be active at. It can be walking or running with a friend. I’m a firm believer in the buddy
system when it comes to training. You don’t want to let each other down, so you become
a lot more consistent.” He said the key is to find something you enjoy.
Jenner thinks the Senior Games and other competitive events are great motivators. “It’s
a good reason to work out and people have a good time doing it because it’s
competitive, but not like doing the Olympics where it’s cutthroat. People are out there
meeting new friends; they have a mutual interest and are having some fun.”