SEPTEMBER 27, 1999
Mike Freshley
When he was a high school athlete, Mike Freshley asked a friend’s father to hypnotize him before track meets and convince him that he could leap impossible distances. Under the spell, he long-jumped 23 ft. 3 in.—2 ft. better than the school record. At 58, Freshley, now a swimmer, no longer needs a hypnotist. Fully conscious, he can visualize heats in advance and see victory. His imagination is usually on target. In a Masters meet last year, he swam the most demanding race in the sport, the 400-m medley, in 6 min. flat, the best time in his 55-to-59 age group. This year he sees himself setting a record in the Seniors 200-m medley.
Beyond clairvoyance, Freshley brings extraordinary discipline to his training, a practice developed in his youth. Drafted into the Army after college, he became one of an élite 15 on the all-military pentathlon team. (General George Patton was once a member.) Training was 10 to 12 grueling hours a day of riding, swimming, fencing, shooting and running. Even his current regimen would stagger most people: four or five swims a week, sometimes including a 1-mile ocean race, two 20-mile bike rides, two weight-lifting sessions, as much as 3 hrs. of yoga and Pilates, and a lot of calisthenics and stretches.
Freshley, who lives in La Jolla, Calif., is an apostle of swimming. “Before 50, swimming is optional,” he says. “After 50, it’s mandatory. Guys’ egos force them to play basketball at 55 as they did at 20, and they damage their knees.” A 70-year-old swimmer looks 50, he maintains, but a 70-year-old runner looks 90. Swimming lowers cholesterol and reduces arthritis pain, he says, and it has strengthened his immune system to the point that he gets barely one cold a year. He recognizes, however, that not everyone will share his devotion. “Nobody has to do what I do—pant, feel your lungs will burst—to get results,” he says. “Show up three times a week and swim at 60% effort, and you’ll get as much health out of the program as I do.”
Giving The Youngsters An Occational
Run For Their Gold
|
| It is still both true and noble that whether you win is not as important as how you play the game. But it’s heartening to see that some records set by athletes in the Senior Games approach or beat records once held by Olympians half their age or younger. A sampling: |
| Men’s 100-M Freestyle |
SENIOR |
Keefe Lodwig, age 53, 1997, 57.93 |
| OLYMPICS |
P. (“Johnny”) Weissmuller, age 24, 1928, 58.6 |
| Women’s 100-M Freestyle |
SENIOR |
Gail Roper, age 67, 1997, 1:18.57 |
| OLYMPICS |
Sarah (“Fanny”) Durack, age 19, 1912, 1:22.2 |
| Men’s 400-M Freestyle |
SENIOR |
Graham M. Johnston, age 62, 1993, 5:06.01 |
| OLYMPICS |
George Hodgson, age 18, 1912, 5:24.4 |
Women’s
High Jump |
SENIOR |
Phil Raschker, age 50, 1997, 5 ft. 1.02 in. |
| OLYMPICS |
Ethel Catherwood, age 18, 1928, 5 ft. 2.5 in. |
—WITH REPORTING BY
EMILY MITCHELL AND ADRIANNE NAVON/NEW YORK
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