JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
All week, we're looking at what it means to get and stay active as you age. We're hearing stories of joy and even bliss that comes from being active. At age 83, DeEtte Sauer says that her life has seen some pretty dramatic changes. Growing up, she never got to participate in organized sports. Girls, she said, weren't supposed to sweat.
DEETTE SAUER: In fact, when I was in high school, I taught the quarterback of our football team how to throw a spiral. But I got to sit in the stands and watch him score (laughter).
SUMMERS: In her 20s and 30s, she says she got into partying and abused alcohol. She got sober but says she didn't quit being addictive.
SAUER: I started baking and cooking and eating, and I gained over a hundred pounds.
SUMMERS: So she started working out, walking in her neighborhood. Then, when she was 58, she overheard a conversation in her gym that would inspire her next quarter century.
SAUER: In the locker room, a woman was talking about being in the Senior Olympics. And it was like, what? That's unbelievable. Maybe I could do that. I never had a chance. Maybe I could. And so then they put up a poster that they were starting a new swim team at our club, and I just showed up. All I knew how to do was kind of dog paddle, and I just kind of fluttered around in the water.
But what was fortunate was there was a young woman on deck that day that was the coach. And when I got about halfway across the pool, I turned around to her and I said, I can't do this. I'm embarrassing myself, and I'm sorry. I should not have shown up. And she said, you can do this. I will teach you. She said, just keep your mouth shut, and do what I tell you. And I did. And it, one more time, changed my life.
SUMMERS: I mean, that's such an incredible story, to go from having only the slightest skill at swimming to being someone who now competes at such a high level. I mean, you're a decorated competitive swimmer.
SAUER: Oh, yeah.
SUMMERS: Tell us about that part of your life. What is it that you love about competing?
SAUER: I like the rush. I like the thrill. I like the challenge. I like constantly pushing myself and measuring myself against the greatness of others. I can remember the very first time I competed, I went underwater and cried after it was over. You know, I was thinking, my first coach, my first team, my first competition, my first real sport. I mean, it was - it just checked off a lot of boxes for me that I had made when I was maybe 9 years old. And I've just never gotten over the thrill. I swim every morning. I get up at 4:15, and I'm in the pool by 5:15. And I'm with a group of incredible people that are so much fun.
SUMMERS: You get up in the morning at the 4 o'clock hour. You're in the pool by 5:15. What does a typical day look like for you?
SAUER: Well, after we do swimming, we do a cold plunge. And we kind of turned it into a karaoke cold plunge, where we sing to each other, and we start singing songs so that nobody can feel the pain of the ice-cold water.
SUMMERS: What's your karaoke song?
SAUER: Oh, my gosh. We do any - like this morning, we were doing UB40's "The Way You Do The Things You Do."
(LAUGHTER)
SAUER: Everybody's laughing and cutting up. You know, I'm just convinced that if you do things that you enjoyed at 7 years old, 8 years old, whatever - if you do them when you're 80 years old, you have so much fun.
SUMMERS: You know, starting something new can be intimidating at any age, so I want to ask, what is your advice to someone who might hear the conversation that you and I are having who - maybe they want to swim. Maybe they want to start lifting weights. Maybe they want to start walking. They want to start a new exercise program or try something new. But they - they're scared to start. What would you tell them?
SAUER: Scared of what? - first of all, you can't let fear stop you from achieving anything. You have to use the fear as almost, like, a - something to energize you and to invigorate you in order to take the risk. I do the 200 butterfly. I'm scared of it. But I'm not going to let it stop me. It took me a long time to get where I am today, but the whole process has been one of sheer bliss. I mean, it's just been incredible.
SUMMERS: DeEtte Sauer, thank you so much for talking with us today.
SAUER: Well, you're quite welcome.
SUMMERS: After we said goodbye, DeEtte Sauer shared one last lesson. As we age, setbacks do happen.
SAUER: I don't want anybody to think that I don't have the same issues that they have. I have arthritis everywhere in my body. I have all kinds of - I've had health challenges. It's so important to be able to come back because it's very easy to give up. It's very important that we stay resilient.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE WAY YOU DO THE THINGS YOU DO")
UB40: (Singing) You've got a smile so bright, you know you could have been a candle.
SUMMERS: That resilience she's talking about - we met a group of older, active people at a local mall who have put that on display. Come back tomorrow to walk the mall with them and hear about how being accountable to one another has kept them stepping together for years. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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