Physiological Changes with Age
By: Chris Parchmann, MS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
Vast evidence demonstrates there is a trajectory of decline in functional ability as we age, especially after the age of thirty. Physical decline varies based on the peak attained earlier in life, which is why it is so important to take care of your body and stay in shape. Working with an Ageility Personal Fitness Trainer is a great way to start.
Aging has been linked to a progressive decrease in aerobic fitness, strength, and lean body mass. These decrements have been related to a prevalence of conditions such as osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and risk of injury from falls. All are interrelated and contribute to losses in fitness levels that are important factors for competing in the National Senior Games, and affect the non-athletic older adult in that degenerative conditions impair autonomy and functional capacity. Leading an active and healthy life is extremely important to preserve attainted levels of fitness in conjunction with independence as you age.
SKELETAL
Skeletal changes with age involve bone loss beginning to exceed bone formation known as osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a chronic disease that greatly affects older adults due to a reduction in bone mineral density and bone quality. Bones become brittle and accumulate a greater number of microfractures with this disease. Lack of loading activities is also a huge factor as to why bone degenerates over time. Women have been shown to lose more bone than men because of menopause. Ageility strength training programs using weights are a great way to combat changes to an aging skeletal system.
JOINTS
Joints are affected by the aging process in several ways. Lack of strength causes joints to become weak and more susceptible to injury. Joints grow stiff and inelastic. In addition, they become less stable and mobile causing common movements to be far more difficult. Mobility and flexibility programs offered by Ageility can improve balance that may be lost with unstable joints.
BODY COMPOSITION
Body fat increases and total body water decreases with age. This becomes especially pronounced at ages 40 – 50 when muscle mass begins to decline. Substantial loss in muscle mass known as sarcopenia negatively influences strength and aerobic capacity. Type I muscle fibers inclined to endurance capability are preserved while type II muscle fibers important for strength and power output associated with many sports are predominantly lost.
NEUROLOGICAL
Nerves become less able to regenerate after they are damaged with age. Older adults find that their reaction time is slower due to this phenomenon. As a result, they lose the ability to generate strength and power influencing sport skills such as jumping ability. Loss of fine tune motor control is another change to the nervous system that occurs. This affects actions such as accuracy in throwing sports. Ageility fitness programs preserve the nervous system by including exercise components that involve strength, power, and coordination to attenuate declines to the nervous system.
Contact Ageility today to begin a fitness program tailored to meet your goals!
- Published in Get In Shape With Ageility
Specificity of Fitness Training Programs
By: Chris Parchmann, MS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
What’s the only thing smarter than getting in shape? Getting up to speed on all the techniques, training theories and even tricks that can make it easier and more efficient to achieve your fitness objectives. At Ageility, we are passionate about helping adults to unlock their physical potential and we are focused on crafting great solutions to meet each individual athletes’ specific needs. It’s helpful to partner with experts like our therapists and trainers to understand how to avoid injuries, and to understand some of the secrets of effective fitness training.
Specificity is a great example of a theory or idea that can really make one’s training program more effective. In the context of fitness, specificity refers to the concept that the types of training undertaken should be tailored specifically to the activity in which improvement is desired. For example, if you are looking to improve your tennis game you might want to focus on specific exercises for racket strokes such as the dumbbell fly, reverse fly, and the wrist flexion and extension. This probably seems obvious, but we are always surprised by how often fitness programs are undertaken without considering what the desired end result is. The better we can define this, the more likely we’ll all be pleased with the results.
Our trainers and therapists are adept at helping to identify key joint actions, muscles, energy systems, and injury sites most relevant to a particular sport. The more similar the training activity is to the actual sport movement, the greater the likelihood that there will be a positive transfer to that sport. Running can be improved with unilateral lower body exercises such as lunges. Jumping can be trained through power cleans and back squats. Ball passing and dribbling is trained with upper body exercises such as the bench press with various width grips, triceps pushdown, and reverse curl.
Working with a qualified trainer can make putting together a good program much easier since the mechanics of the human body can be complex and can start seeming overwhelming very quickly. Leveraging specificity begins with a strong understanding of the human body’s anatomical planes of movement. The sagittal plane, for example, is an anatomical boundary that runs parallel to the longitudinal axis from the head to the feet, dividing the body into left and right sections. Joint actions that occur in the sagittal plane are flexion and extension. Some examples of sagittal plane sport activities are sprinting, kicking, and throwing. Frontal plane is a vertical plane that divides the body into front and back sections. Joint actions that occur in the frontal plane include abduction and adduction. Laterally shuffling the legs and feet when playing defense in basketball is a sport related movement occurring in the frontal plane. Transverse plane bisects the body perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis creating upper and lower sections. All joint actions involving rotation occur in this plane. The tennis forehand and backhand swing are example movements taking place in the transverse plane. If all this last bit sounded a bit complicated to you, you aren’t alone, which is why it’s always great to have an expert’s assistance when you are crafting a program.
Specificity isn’t just for competitive athletes. In fact, older adults can really benefit since they need to be more efficient and set aside more time for recovery. Fewer sets or reps means that each has to be as focused as possible on delivering the desired improvement. Any individuals seeking quality of life improvements among daily living activities can benefit from the concept by applying the same principles to their training. Specificity can be applied very successfully to address some of the unique challenges and requirements of fitness for older adults.
Sport-specific training exercises are designed to provide resistance to relevant movements through the appropriate range of motion. This can also be applied if one’s goal is to train weak areas that may be susceptible to injury. The exercises aren’t always the same, but the goals are. In fact, many older adults must modify exercise range of motion due to degenerative conditions associated with age. Older adults should always be careful with end range of motion activities to minimize the risk of injury and also be concerned with movement speed. With care, explosive exercises that generate higher power outputs can be incorporated into training programs for older active adults with excellent results. Medicine ball throws from various angles are one great way to include power training into your fitness program.
Specificity is just one of the many ways to make a fitness program more impactful and effective. It might seem complex, but the benefits can be enormous and a certified expert, like one our Ageility therapists or trainers, can help put together a program that is objective driven and focused on delivering the results you want. Our team members are passionate about helping adults of all ages to unlock their physical potential and enjoy the benefits of a healthier and more active life. Contact us to see how we can help craft a fitness program for your specific goals and personal needs.
- Published in Get In Shape With Ageility
The Long Run – February 2020
Association News
Personal Best Features “Comeback Kate”
The 2020 class of Personal Best feature athletes grows this month with another inspiring profile of courage, determination and positive action to advance and overcome life challenges and obstacles. That’s what we call a Personal Best lifestyle.
Kate Fisken’s story is about her own triumphant return to swimming, but also about her spirit of volunteerism and caring that has also impacted the lives of many. Her dedication to serve others goes back to her participation in Peace Corps, and continues to this day with activities like board service for her masters swim group, Maryland Senior Olympics, and the NSGA Board of Directors.
Enjoy getting to know Kate in this extended interview feature, and watch for more stories to come during 2020!
Game On!
2020 Open Sports: 8v8 Soccer
The 2021 National Senior Games presented by Humana will feature three new Open Sports, meaning qualifying is not required in order to encourage higher participation in a new sport. They are 8v8 Soccer, Cornhole and Beach Volleyball. This month, we introduce 8v8 Soccer.
The 8v8 Soccer competition in Greater Fort Lauderdale will have both men’s and women’s age divisions. The 8v8 format requires fewer players to form a team and is played on a smaller field footprint. There is also opportunity to touch the ball more, get great exercise, contribute more to the game and have more playing time.
“There’s no doubt that the interest and performance of soccer is growing at a rapid pace in the United States,” Hlavacek says. “There are over 250,000 adults participating in adult leagues across the country, and interest in the sport is particularly high in southern Florida where The Games will be held.”
The soccer sport rules are posted in the Rule Book on our website under the National Games tab. We are currently working with the Greater Fort Lauderdale local organizing group to solidify soccer dates and venue. Stay tuned!
2020 Qualifying Has Begun
The journey to Greater Fort Lauderdale begins with qualifying, and the action is already underway! Arizona is now halfway through their schedule, with some events still open for registration if you hurry. MS and TX begin holding events in March, with four more states opening in April- AL,CT,DC, and MD. Many states spread out their games over multiple dates, so make sure to check each Member Game’s schedule and registration information to find your sport and deadlines to enter. Note that while most states have published all information, a few event sport dates for later this year may still be pending.
We recommend you follow the link below for State Information, which will lead you to individual Games links and downloadable general state schedule and contacts.
For the 2021 National Senior Games we recommend you visit the website for the updated sport rules and format changes.
February Athlete of the Month
Leonid’s Table of Good Health
Leonid Sukher has enjoyed table tennis since childhood. Growing up relatively poor with no access to equipment, he and friends made paddles out of scrap plywood to play. Little did he know as a youth that getting serious about his game would help regain his health later in life.
Born in Ukraine in a small town between Kiev and Odessa, Leonid emigrated with his wife and family members to the United States in 1998, moving from Chicago to Brighton, Massachusetts two years later for an engineering job. He continued to play recreationally but did not enter competition until 2007 when his doctor warned of high cholesterol and prescribed medications. “He recommended I should have more physical activity,” he says with a thick accent. “I had to stop sitting around so much, eating popcorn. I knew to compete you must participate, join a club, go to practices. I did and played my first local tournament that year.”
Leonid became a regular at the Boston Table Tennis Center in Medford and made his first National Senior Games appearance in Palo Alto in 2009. To date, he has won two gold and one each silver and bronze for medals. His brother Alexander plays badminton and the two have been at The Games together four times since then.
“He has won more medals at Nationals than me, so it’s a sibling joke between us,” he says with a laugh. “He’s a bit older and much stronger in his play than me, so maybe I have time to get more. But we are lucky that sometimes our schedule overlaps and we can spend time watching each other.”
Leonid, 70, enjoys playing with athletes of his own age and above but has also found partners in lower age groups as low as the 50-54 level. “I was just a bit luckier to win more medals when playing doubles with partners in lower age groups,” he says. “Also, there some luck for me to have a partner from a lower age group willing to play with me. I learn something from them, and they learn from me. It does help to improve my game.”
Some not close to table tennis might not think of it as an exercise sport, but Leonid is quick to point out that it requires a strong body and mind to coordinate actions. “Your brain is working, your eyes are working, your body is working. You have to react to the ball instantly in the moment and know what to do. I definitely think it might help prevent illnesses like Alzheimer’s.”
Another benefit from his participation is the friends he has made, and Leonid has given back by serving as the Table Tennis Event Manager for the Massachusetts Senior Games since 2014. One of his most coveted accomplishments is the achievement of a 2000+ USATT ranking, and he has competed in several national and world competition events, most recently the 2018 World Veterans Table Tennis Championships in Las Vegas. “The USA Table Tennis organizers provided us with uniforms, and now I put mine on every time I play,” he says proudly. He will again compete in the event being held this year in Bordeaux, France.
The bottom line for Leonid is that he found an activity he loves that will keep him active and socially engaged for the rest of his life, and he credits his new sporting life for recovering his health. “If I do not play for a while I don’t feel so comfortable,” he says. “But when I play regularly, I feel so much better. The most important thing is you improve your health.”
We want to hear more great stories! To submit yours, or to nominate a fellow athlete who inspires you, Please Click Here.
Senior Health and Wellness
Senior Games Heart Health News and Mayo Clinic Views
February is Heart Health Month and we have an informative article below sharing expert views from the Mayo Clinic. First, we have some hearty good news for participants in National Senior Games.
Senior Athlete Fitness Exam (SAFE) screening data from Drs. Brisk, Jordre, and Schweinle show that Senior Games athletes have significantly lower cardiovascular disease compared to their age peers. Seniors in sports with high cardiac output have less compared to those in sports with low cardiac heart output. High cardiac output athletes have lower waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and body mass measures. Sports with low cardiac demand, such as field events, softball, shuffleboard, golf, bowling, and archery will benefit from aerobic activities.
Please follow the link for NSGA/SAFE’s Cardiovascular Training Tips for Athletes over 50.
Fitness and Weight Control Both Matter for Heart Health
When it comes to heart health, is it better to be fit but overweight or to be of normal weight and sedentary? According to new research, compared with being fit and of healthy weight, both combinations increase your likelihood of having risk factors for heart disease.
The study, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, involved adults over age 70 who were part of a database in Norway. About 900 men and women were assessed for physical fitness — using a treadmill — and body composition, including body mass index (BMI).
The study also determined who had — or was being treated for — undesirable cholesterol levels, high blood pressure or elevated fasting blood glucose, a marker of diabetes. Anyone with or being treated for any two of these risk factors for cardiovascular disease was considered at high risk of developing a cardiovascular problem such as heart attack or stroke.
Not surprisingly, people who had a BMI of 25 or less and good fitness — such as at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise performed five days a week — were the least likely to be at high risk of cardiovascular disease. In the table below, you can see how risk climbs with lack of fitness, being overweight or both.
While this study shows increases in the likelihood of risk factors for cardiovascular problems, it didn’t look for – or quantify – the increased risk of actual cardiovascular events. In this regard, Mayo Clinic doctors say it’s important to recognize that it’s never too late to change for the better in terms of weigh and activity.
Shared with permission from the Mayo Clinic Health Letter
NSGA Partners
NSGA Sport Partners
NSGA Official Apparel
- Published in Newsletter
Comeback Kate
Kate Fisken, 77, Bethesda, Maryland
People who know Kate Fisken say she has a heart as big as the ocean. Perhaps that’s why she swims, but it’s really a statement reflecting on the retired Maryland accountant’s lifelong commitment to serve others, which dates back to when President Kennedy called on citizens to do “what you can do for your country.” Kate served in India with the Peace Corps after college, and has been doing volunteer work with nonprofits since, including more recent board service with her local masters swimming club, the Maryland Senior Olympics and the National Senior Games Association.
Swimming also developed Kate’s tenacity and resilience through high school competition and taking on the wild surf of the Pacific Ocean while in college. Being pre-Title IX, there was no college swim team for her to join. Opportunities to swim were more limited during her Peace Corps service, and afterwards, as she says in the following interview, “My family came along, and you know what happens.”
Ironically, a 1999 car accident injury and a bad twist on a yoga mat five years later pointed Kate back to the pool. Her spine injury presented options of invasive surgery or radical rehabilitation therapy and pain tolerance. Kate chose to commit to the hard work, and the swimming lane became her path to restored health and ongoing wellness. She couldn’t swim even one lane on her first day back in the pool, but in less than a year she completed her goal to finish the one-mile Chesapeake Bay swim in 2006. To date, she has since competed in over 115 masters swimming events, including Maryland Senior Olympics and regular appearances at National Senior Games since 2009.
Life never stops presenting challenges to overcome, and Kate had to face a bout with uterine cancer in early 2017. She was disappointed to cancel plans for a triathlon relay with two former Peace Corps friends, but equally determined to at least show up in Birmingham for the 2017 National Senior Games presented by Humana. Not only did she compete, she logged her best time for the 500 Freestyle event.
Kate Fisken and her supportive husband Bernie (also a past Peace Corps volunteer) are now retired from the company they began, and she reports her sciatica is now manageable with over the counter medications. In what follows, she repeatedly credits her swimming with restoring her health, and for staying motivated through the goals she sets for Senior Games competition. Her athletic experiences have enriched her life and motivated her more to volunteer and to present a Personal Best life example. She hopes to inspire others to follow their own path to healthy aging…and to also consider giving back to make the world a little better.
Let’s start at the beginning, Kate. How long have you been swimming?
I grew up in Seattle and that’s where I learned to swim when I was two or three. I had two brothers and a sister. My grandmother was very instrumental in teaching me how to swim. She rode horses and was quite an athlete.
When she came to visit, she put me on the kitchen table and showed me how to move my arms and kick. She was something. Both of my grandmothers were very athletic, and so were my mother and my father.
Kate (3rd from left, top row) with other local youth swim champs in newspaper clipping.
Were you on a swim team as a youth?
I started swimming competitively in junior high in Pennsylvania and in high school in Ohio. We moved back east and I swam in summer leagues. But when I got to college there wasn’t women’s sports, so I’m one of these women that were caught by pre-Title IX.
After college, when did swimming come back for you?
Well, I am an ocean swimmer and I did a lot of body surfing and board surfing while I was in college in California. My mom was a great ocean swimmer, too. She was amazing and set that example for me.
I joined the Peace Corps and went to India after college from 1964 to 1966. Wherever I could swim, I swam. But what happened after was basically my family came along, and you know what happens. The day-to-day took over, and I didn’t swim again until after I was severely injured in a car accident in 1999.
Tell us about that experience.
My husband and I were living in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and we were commuting back and forth to downtown Washington, DC where we had our public accounting practice. One morning – it must’ve been before 6 O’clock – we drove onto some black ice in our 4-wheel drive truck. I was driving and we skidded off the road in the middle of cornfields and cattle. I told Bernie, ‘OK, let’s call AAA and we’ll have them get us past the black ice, or we will just wait here until the sun comes up.’ He took a flare to the top of the hill. I took my seatbelt off to get my phone to call AAA. Just as that happened, a truck came over the hill and hit the corner of our truck. I did a 180 and flew out of the truck.
Kate spent most of her Peace Corps duty living in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas, but also found some fun activity such as an invitation to be crew in a sail boat race. She and her skipper Sammy (left) came in first place and were given cups by the Maharaja & Maharini Raj Singh.
How terrifying!
I can still hear to this day my husband screaming my name and I kept saying ‘I’m OK I’m OK I’m OK.’ Then another three or four vehicles drove past and someone called 911. The next thing I remember was being put on a board. They said, ‘Raise your head,’ and I couldn’t. They took me to the nearest hospital in Warrenton, Virginia. I was pretty badly bruised on my back and my arms but they couldn’t find anything wrong. When we went home I stayed in bed for a couple of days. I was pretty beat up, but I recovered.
Then about five years later, that was in June 2004, I’m in a yoga class and my knees were over on the right side of me. I twisted my shoulders and hurt something. I said, ‘Oh no,’ and couldn’t get off the floor. I had twisted my spine and there must have been a hairline fracture. I have what’s called a Grade 2 Spondylolisthesis in my L4 vertebrae. What that means is my spinal column kinda takes a little detour-it comes down and then goes around L4 and then it goes back to the L5 and down to the coccyx. It’s still there.
Did they operate to correct it? Like a fuse?
No fuse, all the doctors wanted to do what’s called a laminectomy to take bone from my hip, take out the vertebrae, and fill it in with screws and rods. I then met with Dr. Arthur Kobrine, who is the doctor who saved Jim Brady when he was shot in the Reagan assassination attempt.
He told me that it’s a very tough operation and you are not guaranteed anything, and then asked if I could live with the pain. I told him it doesn’t happen every day and I can live with it as long as I have some meds. He said, ‘OK, if you don’t want to have an operation, we have to do radical physical therapy, and if you can lose a little weight and swim, you might want to try that and see if it can help your recovery.’ That’s where my journey led me, and I am very grateful to him.
You were fortunate to have a great physician caring for you.
Yes, and I grew up in a family where we didn’t go to doctor right away. We would take our time and see if the body would heal itself. That’s just the way I was raised, but obviously there is a huge role for medical expertise particularly with what happened to me.
The first day I went to the pool I had to get over what my body looked like in a swimsuit. [Laugh] Once I got in the pool, I couldn’t even swim a length. During the fall of 2004, I would make myself swim longer every day, and then finally I got up to speed by May or June in the following year. I really needed a goal, so that’s why I found masters swimming and my goal was to swim the Chesapeake Bay one-mile swim in 2006.
So you found a goal that took you back to your ocean swimming in the past.
Kate’s Chesapeake Bay Swim plaque
When I was a little kid, one of my dreams was to be like Florence Chadwick. We had a little tiny television and my mom and I watched her swim the English Channel, and I said ‘Someday I’m gonna do that.’ So, my goal was to swim Chesapeake Bay, and that’s what I did.
How have you been getting into swimming shape since coming back?
I regularly work out with the U.S. masters swimming club in Montgomery County. We are called the Ancient Mariners. Our meet every year is called the Albatross Open, and our newsletter is The Rime. [Laugh]
Ancient Mariners! That’s a really cool masters swim club name.
Yeah, we have a great group. I really enjoy diving in and swimming with other folks, and even when I’m not at masters, I meet a couple of women at the pool on a regular basis. I go Saturday and Sunday mornings, and I try to get in one or two mornings during the week. I don’t keep track, but I know I swim probably between 5,000 and 7,000 meters a week.
You must be sore after a long swim.
We have this joke at the pool, if it doesn’t hurt then you aren’t doing it right. [Laugh]
So that’s how it all got started again, and then I went to the Maryland Senior Olympics swim meet in 2006 and met a woman by the name of Nancy Brown. She really encouraged me to keep it going and be part of the National Senior Games. I later learned that Nancy set a world record for the 100-meter short course backstroke in 1991 and was featured in Sports Illustrated. Sadly, she died from cancer just recently. She coached Maryland masters and was a role model for all of us.
Another inspiration. Has it been smooth waters for you since then?
I wish. Before the 2017 Games I was diagnosed with uterine cancer. I was getting ready to do a triathlon relay in Florida with two of my Peace Corps buddies who are both very accomplished athletes. One was going to do the running, another was going to do the bike, and I was going to be the swimmer. But I had to back out and get an operation.
I was determined – I can’t tell you how determined I was – to go to Birmingham and swim National Senior Games. I didn’t care if I didn’t train but I was going to show up, and I did. I realized that so much of competitive swimming is attitude and your head, because I had my best 500 free and I couldn’t believe it.
Things are much better now. I don’t have the sciatica I used to have. I get it sometimes, but I don’t have it regularly. I don’t take any pain meds except for over the counter Advil.
Have you won medals?
I should send you a picture of them. When I swam the Chesapeake Bay I came in second and I’m like “What??” Then I went to the Maryland Senior games swim meet and I won medals. Whenever I go to a U.S. masters meet I usually win medals. I’m usually in the top eight. And the older I get, the less competition I find. It’s funny, but we athletes can’t wait to age up into the next age group. I am 78 as of March, so I’ve got another year in my 75 to 80 group. When I go to Florida in 2021, I’ll be in the top of my age bracket, and then after that I will be the youngster again. [Laugh]
Of course, medals are great, but the health benefits you have gained is the best Gold.
It’s made a big difference in my life. The people I’ve met and swim with on a regular basis are wonderful to be around. The camaraderie is great, and we help each other when we can. And it keeps me fit! When I go to my doctors they are like, ‘Whatever you are doing, don’t ever stop.’
Do you think about winning or just getting a best time when you compete?
I try to always get better times. When you compete like I do, you know the swimmers year after year. When I get in the pool, I know who is going to beat me and who probably won’t beat me. One of my great friends is Betsy Beddow from Oklahoma. She is a great swimmer and was in the summer Olympics in 1964. I met her at the National Senior Games in Cleveland in 2013 and she beat me in the 50 free by one-tenth of a second. I said, ‘Betsy you are never going to do that again, I’m gonna beat you the next time.’
There’s a lot of good-natured banter between athletes at this age level.
I think it’s not about the winning. It’s about the getting up every day with people who you love to be around and have the same goal as you. I mean, we’re not Michael Phelps or Katie Ledecky, we’re people who love to exercise and swimming is that sport that fits us best. I always try to improve my own time so that’s kind of where I’m coming from.
We always see your husband Bernie with you wherever you go. People tell us what a cute couple you are.
We’ve been married 51 years. Bernie and I got married in 1968 and we lived overseas in Nicaragua and Bolivia after the Peace Corps. He was in the Peace Corps too, in Ecuador, but we didn’t meet each other until we were finished. I met him in Palo Alto, California. Bernie’s career was the same as mine. He has an MBA from Wharton in public accounting, and we had our own business working together for over 25 years.
Why isn’t Bernie swimming?
Bernie doesn’t like the water. He didn’t learn to swim when he was a kid. He grew up in downtown Boston and he didn’t learn to ride a bike or swim until later as an adult.
Well, that’s love for you! Let’s turn to your volunteer spirit of giving back. How did you get involved with volunteering for Senior Games?
I’ve always been a volunteer with nonprofits and throughout my life. I started out my volunteer work in the Peace Corps in India. President Kennedy asked to give back to your country with your volunteerism.
When I came back, I did all kinds of things. I am proud that I started a daycare for migrant workers in California, and then when I got to DC I started an after school program at my kids elementary school, and started a group called Friends of India. That just sort of mushroomed into working with nonprofits.
I also taught swimming to little kids for Montgomery County in the summer. I like the little kids, the two- to four-year-olds. It’s mainly safety, showing them how to get in and out safely. You know, drowning is now the number one cause of accidental death in children in the U.S. It used to be cars. This motivates me big time. I feel like I’m the grandma giving back. I had to stop when my husband had a stroke, but I’ll probably do it again this summer.
Kate dons a Maryland crab hat in a whimsical moment at an NSGA Annual Conference.
In senior swimming, I was secretary for my masters group several years, and recently became the treasurer. I’m also the treasurer of the Maryland Senior Olympics board.
And we’re happy to have you serving on the NSGA Board of Directors since 2017 too!
I came to NSGA through Maryland Senior Olympics. The executive director at that time was Ted Wroth and he suggested I ought to try to get on the national board. I gave it a whirl and I enjoy it.
You stay busy, but you obviously enjoy giving back.
Basically, if it wasn’t for NSGA, I wouldn’t have had the goals that I’ve experienced with my swimming. I couldn’t believe when I went to my very first national competition at the 2009 Games in Palo Alto. What a great group of people I found, and how well the games were run. I decided I want to be a part of this and someday give something back to NSGA.
Everyone has their own unique situation, but what advice do you offer to others inspired by you?
People ask me you how did you do this or that, and I tell people that you have to be gentle with yourself. That’s because a lot of people try swimming and then give up because they can’t keep up with x, y, or z. You need to start out slow and just keep doing it. For me it became therapy, it really did, maybe some mental therapy but more physical therapy with my back.
For those who look at us and say, ‘No, I could never do it,’ I encourage them to just do it for recreation and fitness. I’ve swam with a guy who is very crippled now from MS since 2005. He comes to the pool and he gets in the water and he swims. It’s about his wellbeing more than anything, both mental and physical.
What I have accomplished bears witness to the fact that your body can be resourceful if you are given the right instructions. I have always been someone who achieves a goal. It’s not about me. It’s about the ability of a person to achieve a goal and move on with their lives. That’s the best way I can say it.
It’s hard to imagine how you would be doing if you had not jumped back in the water, Kate.
I can’t tell you what a difference this has meant to me and my personal life. It’s given me a goal. It’s given me a reason to get up and go to the pool and it just fits very well in my life.
Obviously, the adrenaline and the high that you get after you exercise is so healthy for your body. There’s the camaraderie you get from your swim mates. With swimming, it is a cardiovascular exercise, and if you can set goals that are realistic you will never stop swimming. My goal is to win a gold medal when I’m 90. I figure I’ll just outlive everybody. [Laugh]
- Published in 2020 PB, Personal Best Featured Athletes
Leonid’s Table of Good Health February 2020 Athlete of the Month
Leonid Sukher, 70, Brighton, Massachusetts
Leonid Sukher has enjoyed table tennis since childhood. Growing up relatively poor with no access to equipment, he and friends made paddles out of scrap plywood to play. Little did he know as a youth that getting serious about his game would help regain his health later in life.
Born in Ukraine in a small town between Kiev and Odessa, Leonid emigrated with his wife and family members to the United States in 1998, moving from Chicago to Brighton, Massachusetts two years later for an engineering job. He continued to play recreationally but did not enter competition until 2007 when his doctor warned of high cholesterol and prescribed medications. “He recommended I should have more physical activity,” he says with a thick accent. “I had to stop sitting around so much, eating popcorn. I knew to compete you must participate, join a club, go to practices. I did and played my first local tournament that year.”
Leonid became a regular at the Boston Table Tennis Center in Medford and made his first National Senior Games appearance in Palo Alto in 2009. To date, he has won two gold and one each silver and bronze for medals. His brother Alexander plays badminton and the two have been at The Games together four times since then.
“He has won more medals at Nationals than me, so it’s a sibling joke between us,” he says with a laugh. “He’s a bit older and much stronger in his play than me, so maybe I have time to get more. But we are lucky that sometimes our schedule overlaps and we can spend time watching each other.”
Leonid, 70, enjoys playing with athletes of his own age and above but has also found partners in lower age groups as low as the 50-54 level. “I was just a bit luckier to win more medals when playing doubles with partners in lower age groups,” he says. “Also, there some luck for me to have a partner from a lower age group willing to play with me. I learn something from them, and they learn from me. It does help to improve my game.”
Some not close to table tennis might not think of it as an exercise sport, but Leonid is quick to point out that it requires a strong body and mind to coordinate actions. “Your brain is working, your eyes are working, your body is working. You have to react to the ball instantly in the moment and know what to do. I definitely think it might help prevent illnesses like Alzheimer’s.”
Another benefit from his participation is the friends he has made, and Leonid has given back by serving as the Table Tennis Event Manager for the Massachusetts Senior Games since 2014. One of his most coveted accomplishments is the achievement of a 2000+ USATT ranking, and he has competed in several national and world competition events, most recently the 2018 World Veterans Table Tennis Championships in Las Vegas. “The USA Table Tennis organizers provided us with uniforms, and now I put mine on every time I play,” he says proudly. He will again compete in the event being held this year in Bordeaux, France.
The bottom line for Leonid is that he found an activity he loves that will keep him active and socially engaged for the rest of his life, and he credits his new sporting life for recovering his health. “If I do not play for a while I don’t feel so comfortable,” he says. “But when I play regularly, I feel so much better. The most important thing is you improve your health.”
- Published in Athlete of the Month