100-year-old woman swims 1,500 metres in masters meet
Mieko Nagaoka took up swimming at the age of 82 to recover from a knee injury
Tokyo: Mieko Nagaoka, a 100-year-old Japanese swimmer, finished a 1,500-metre swim in one hour, 15 minutes and 54.39 seconds in the masters’ swimming competition in Matsuyama on Saturday, Xinhua reported.
Nagaoka, born in 1914, took up swimming at the age of 82 to recover from a knee injury.
At first, Nagaoka did not know how to swim. She used to go to the swimming pool to do exercises for her knee.
At 82, she started to learn to swim on her own. She is a Noh — Japanese traditional dancing drama — performer and the added incentive was that the exercise would keep in shape for the plays.
When she was 84, Nagaoka started masters-class swimming in Japan. Aged 100, she is now Japan’s oldest swimmer and competes at the FINA masters world championships.
At 88, she made her first appearance at the masters’ championships in 2002 in Christchurch, New Zealand, and took the bronze in the 50m backstroke. She was back for more in 2004 in Riccione, Italy, where she won three silver medals (50m, 100m and 200m backstroke).
She won national recognition in Japan when at 90, she set a national record in her pet event, the 800m freestyle.
Fresh from her success, she started training with a coach, taking private lessons and trying to improve her record-breaking performances.
Her endeavours paid off, at 95, she created her first masters world record in the 50m backstroke. She currently holds 24 world records and plans to win more medals in both long and short courses.
Nagaoka trains four times a week and in her family, swimming transcends every generation, from her son to grandchildren, and she strongly encourages other swimmers to keep swimming for as long as possible.
