Toowoomba swimmer returns to the pool
SWIMMING: Toowoomba’s Ann Todd could barely swim 25m 15 years ago.
Now, the 91-year-old is winning gold in international Masters swimming events.
It had been 50 years since Todd stepped foot in a swimming pool.
About 15 years ago she was cheering on her grandson at his prep swimming carnival when a thought crossed her mind.
“He could swim really well and I wondered how he was so good,” Todd said.
“Then I remembered I used to swim.”
Todd began swimming at boarding school, The Glennie School.
She lived in a small, country town 80 miles out of Longreach.
“You can’t really do laps in a muddy dam,” she laughed.
When she left school she stopped swimming up until 15 years ago when she ran into a friend who was a member of the Toowoomba Tadpoles club.
He invited her to come down to train at her former school’s pool.
At the time, she couldn’t swim 25m and is now racing and winning 1500m races.
“It’s amazing what you can work up to,” she said.
Her first international event was in Canada.
“A few people from the club were going and asked me to come,” Todd said.
“I said ‘don’t be ridiculous’ but they eventually talked me into it.
“The next world masters were held in England and then I got the bug.”
Todd has now swum all over the world in Germany, Italy, Sweden, Morocco and most recently, Hungary.
The Toowoomba nonagenarian has raced against the likes of world record breaking swimmer, Margaret Cunningham, whom she has beaten once.
She trains three mornings a week, sometimes four if there is a carnival or event coming up.
“I’m very lucky. Swimming is easy on the body,” Todd said.
Swimming and staying active is what Todd says keeps her so fit and healthy.
“Most ladies at 91 are bed ridden or have walking sticks or pushes,” she said.
“I’ve always loved sport and being active. Being a country girl I used to ride a lot too.”
Todd only gave up tennis and golf last year and has taken up bridge to exercise her brain. Her secret to living a long, healthy life is to just keep going.
“Once you stop you’ve had it,” she laughed.