By Ragini Kathail

Town Crier Editorial Intern

Marjorie Sharpe, 86, talks about the benefits of keeping active during the golden years

Longtime swimmer Marjorie Sharpe learned to swim at 2 with a little help from her grandfather, the first to put her in a pool. Sharpe said he was tired of dragging her out of the wading pool and decided it was time for her to take a dip in a big pool.

“I cannot remember a time when I did not know how to swim,” the 85-year-old said last week from her Woodside home, decorated with more than 100 swimming medals earned while in her 80s, including five gold medals from a swim competition in New Zealand last February.

Sharpe will participate in the Avenidas Summer Fitness Academy Aug. 30 as a panelist, talking about the role exercise has had in her life. She also participated last year. At that time, she was the only swimmer on the panel. All of the panelists are seniors who have achieved athletic success during their golden years.

Avenidas is a multiservice center in Palo Alto for area seniors and their families. Its annual one-week Summer Fitness Academy includes health seminars and exercise classes designed to help seniors bring fitness into their lives.

While teaching at UCLA several years ago, Sharpe was involved in a car accident and left bedridden with a serious back injury. She said that after four operations, the last of which was in 1990, Sharpe discovered that she was free of pain in water.

She took up swimming once again for pure enjoyment. After living in Florida for awhile, she and her husband moved to Calpe, Spain, a small village on the eastern coast.

While living there, Sharpe swam 2 kilometers in the Mediterranean Sea every morning.

“Swimming the 2 kilometers across the bay and back was a glorious experience,” she said. “The crystal clear waters, the schools of fish, the marine plants, plus the increasing strength of my swimming made for an ideal situation.”

After returning to the United States, Sharpe started swimming with Woodside Aquatics.

She joined the Stanford Masters’ Swim Team in 1995. Sharpe swims in local and U.S. Masters competitions, as well as some international meets.

Now, as a competitive swimmer, Sharpe swims extensive planned workouts every morning, Monday through Saturday.

“I don’t swim Sundays because the pool is too crowded,” she said with a laugh.

Avenidas is scheduled to hold its fourth annual Fitness Academy Saturday through Aug.30 daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Avenidas, 450 Bryant St., Palo Alto, for adults age 50 and over of all fitness levels. For information, call Judith Webb at 326-5362, ext. 19.