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100-year-old Japanese female swimmer swam 1,500 meters in Masters Swimming Meet in western Japan

100-year-old Japanese female swimmer swam 1,500 meters in Masters Swimming Meet in western Japan

TOKYO (Xinhua) -- Mieko Nagaoka, a 100-year-old Japanese female swimmer, finished a 1,500 meters swim in one hour, 15 minutes and 54.39 seconds in the masters swimming competition in Matsuyama, western Japan...

Mieko Nagaoka, born in 1914 and who lives alone in south Japan, took up swimming at the age of 82 to recover from a knee injury. Her story teaches us a simple but often overlooked lesson -- it's never too late to start something new and succeed.

In the beginning, Nagaoka didn't know how to swim. She used to come to the swimming pool to do exercises for her knee. At 82, she started to learn and swim on her own. Because she performs in a Noh -- Japanese traditional dancing dramas, this was also an incentive to learn how to swim so that she would keep in shape for the plays.

Aged 100, she is now Japan's oldest swimmer and even comes to compete at the FINA masters world championships. When she was 84 years old, Nagaoka started masters swimming in Japan. At 88, she made her first appearance at the masters worlds in 2002 in Christchurch of New Zealand and took the bronze in the 50m backstroke. She was back for more in 2004 in Riccione of Italy where she won three silver medals (50m, 100m and 200m backstroke).

She achieved 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 performance.

Her endeavors have paid off since at 95, she brought it to a whole new level, creating 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 course.

Nagaoka trains four times a week, each for two hours. She actually likes longer distances because she swims slowly and is able to keep her own pace.

In Nagaoka's family, swimming transcends every generation, from her son to grandchildren, and she strongly encourages other swimmers to keep swimming as long as possible.

Text and Photo: Xinhua

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Good News for Swimmers: Swimming lowers blood pressure

Swimming lowers blood pressure

MANY older adults like to take a dip a pool, and now a small study suggests it can be good for their blood pressure.

Researchers found that among 43 older men and women, those who started swimming a few times a week lowered their systolic blood pressure — the "top" number in a blood pressure reading.

On average, the swimmers started the study with a systolic blood pressure of 131 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Three months later, it was 122 mm Hg.

Normal blood pressure is defined as an average reading no higher than 120/80 mm Hg. Readings of 140/90 or higher are considered high blood pressure, and anything in between is considered "pre-hypertension."

Swimming is often promoted as a good way for older people to exercise, since it's easy on the joints and it's not likely to cause overheating. And many follow that advice: after walking, swimming is the second-most popular form of exercise among the older set.

But there's been little research into the health benefits of swimming — though a number of studies have suggested that it's as safe for older adults as walking and bicycling, said Hirofumi Tanaka, senior researcher on the new study.

Published in the American Journal of Cardiology, the research appears to be the first to demonstrate that swimming can improve older adults' blood vessel function and curb their blood pressure.

"Swimming is a very attractive form of exercise," Tanaka, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, told Reuters Health in an email.

"It's easily accessible and inexpensive," Tanaka noted. "And because it does not involve bearing of body weight, due to the buoyancy of water, it is friendly to knee and ankle joints."

The study included 43 adults, with an average age of 60, who had high blood pressure or pre-hypertension but were otherwise healthy.

The researchers randomly assigned them to either have supervised swimming sessions or learn relaxation exercises. Over 12 weeks, the swimmers got in the pool three or four times a week, gradually working their way up to 45 minutes of swimming at a time.

By the end of the study, the swimmers had shaved an average of nine points from their systolic blood pressure. In contrast, that number did not budge in the relaxation group.

The picture was similar when the researchers had the study participants wear portable monitors that tracked their blood pressure over 24 hours. On average, the swimming group had a 24-hour systolic blood pressure of 119 mm Hg — down from 128 mm Hg at the study's start.

Tanaka's team also used ultrasound tests to measure how well participants' blood vessels were dilating in response to blood flow. Again, they found improvements in the swimming group, but not in the relaxation group.

The study was small, and it's not clear whether the blood pressure reduction lasts — or whether it translates into a lower risk of heart attack or stroke down the line.

But the results line up with what experts already recommend for older adults' heart health: get regular moderate exercise, along with a healthy diet.

Tanaka said that as long as an older adult has gotten the go-signal to exercise moderately, swimming should be a safe activity. But if you're sedentary, check with your doctor before becoming newly active.

There was a time when swimming was considered potentially risky, Tanaka noted, because being in cold water "elicits cardiovascular changes."

But most studies have indicated that swimming at your local pool would be as safe as a walk around the neighborhood.

Text: Reuters

Photo: Aquatics Cambodia

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Coaching in Cambodia: An Article by Mary BREWER about her experience to be volunteer-coach for Cambodian National Swimming Team

Coaching in Cambodia

Introduction from Aquatics Cambodia:

I saw some time ago in Internet that interesting article about personal experience of one American female (who is actually with non-professional swimming sport coaching background as it is clear seen from her article) to coach members of Cambodian National Swimming Team in 2008 as volunteer. I never have heard, any details, from anybody in the stadium, about her before. Just Mr. HEM Thon, who was that time the main figure in Cambodian swimming sport, leading his "Hem Thon family national swimming federation", as some Cambodian NOC officials were joking, because practically all federation consisted just of his family members, so he told to me that before there was one Japanese coach-consultant with non-professional swimming sport background, and, he also mentioned about an American female coach, who briefly did coaching, but he never told any details, when, where and how it was. She was coaching just one year before when I came to join this swimming federation in September 2009. I think, it will be interesting, for our Cambodia and worldwide based readers to read this article and my comments below as well. This article was published in November 2008, and I saw it in 2013, but only now, I have decided to put it in Aquatics Cambodia. For me, it was interesting, to read her opinion to understand better, in what condition Cambodian National Swimming Team and local swimming sport were in 2008. The article was not signed, but as I understood, the author of that article was Ms Mary BREWER. Unfortunately, the author of this article did not put any photo or video to illustrate her story.

Source: http://maryabrewer.blogspot.com/2008/11/coaching-in-cambodia.html

Monday, November 17, 2008

In addition to finding Khmer Aerobics at the local stadium, I also found the only 50-meter pool in Phnom Penh there. I had previously heard of this pool, but when I asked around about it, people doubted its existence or said that it was closed. I had originally been in search of it as a place to do laps, but after seeing (and smelling) its condition, I decided it would be best not for me to take the plunge. It is evident that once upon a time, the pool area was a very nice facility, but like the stadium itself, time has left it behind and it is now run down and not well cared for. Algae covers the bottom making the water look greenish black, a garbage/toilet aroma fills the air as the top of the bleachers are used as a trash can and a public toilet, the overhead lights barely work on a good night, and the diving well is a bio-hazard in itself. I did find one thing positive at the pool though, and that was a swim team!

As soon as I saw that there was an organized practice underway, I skipped down the bleachers to talk to the coaches about helping out on deck. The first coach I talked to spoke very little English and the reinforcement he called over wasn’t much better. We were able to communicate, however, that I should come back the following Monday to talk to the head coach. When I returned, I had a letter written in Khmer stating who I was and that I would like to volunteer my time to help coach. This time I spoke with the head coach, a former Cambodian swimmer who has been swimming and/or coaching the Cambodian National team since the pool was built in the 1960’s. He is very much the patriarchal figure of the team and as he sat on the sideline watching the swimmers, he reminded me of a lion king watching over his pride. I was worried that I would say or do something to offend him, but after he read my letter and we spoke for about 5 minutes, he told me that it would make him very happy if I helped coach his team. He explained that two of his swimmers actually participated in the Beijing Olympics, but that compared to other countries, “Cambodia swimmers are not so strong, but they practice to be like swimmers in America, Australia, Germany, and China.”

So, for the past month or so, I’ve been coaching the Cambodian National Swim Team. Pretty cool, I have to say. Although it is technically the national team, the quality and strength of the swimmers is not up to the national team status to which I am accustomed. For starters, I would have no business coaching a national team in any other country and I can beat one of the swimmers who swam in the Olympics in a 50 free. (Those of you who remember my 50 free know that isn’t saying too much.) Nonetheless, it is an amazing experience and although I’m certainly not a seasoned coach, I’m hopeful that that my 12+ years of experience in the water and my 4+ summers of experience on deck will help some of the kids see some solid improvement.

The team has 3 levels and I coach the highest level. The other day, the coach actually had a team meeting (which, by the way, was conducted in a military-like fashion complete with lines and calls for attention) in which 8 of the fastest swimmers in the highest level were recognized and “awarded the privilege” of being coached by me. Ha! It was kind of awkward for me and made me seriously doubt my abilities, but it was cool to see the kids get excited about training with a “coach from America.”

A couple of the kids speak English well enough to understand what I want the group to do. Then, either they will translate it to the other swimmers or the coach will. The coach is hesitant to translate though, because as he told me, he wants his swimmers to learn English from me as well. I’m also learning a little bit of Khmer from them, which is fun. I have to be pretty creative with my workouts because there is a serious lack of the necessary practice equipment. The pool only has one lane rope, there are no backstroke flags, there are very few kickboards and pull buoys, and there aren’t any pace clocks. No equipment makes for interesting practices, but we’re managing.

I’m loving every minute of being at the pool with the swimmers and I’m hopeful that when all is said and done, it will be a beneficial and memorable experience for them as well. One of these days, I might even be brave enough to jump in that water with them…but we’ll see how that goes!

Comments from Aquatics Cambodia:

 "In addition to finding Khmer Aerobics at the local stadium, I also found the only 50-meter pool in Phnom Penh there."

She is meaning National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh. By the way, it was one of the first such stadiums, constructed in South-East Asia, in 1960-s by the famous Cambodian architect Mr. Vann Molyvann and in the times of 1960-s - 1970-s it looked really very nice! Unfortunately, since the time of creation, it never had any proper renovation and now it is in very poor state, especially its swimming pool, with old fashioned diving pots, very often green water because of an ancient cleaning machine working only with 20-30 % of required capacity, according what Mr. HEM Thon told to me in 2010, and not properly use chemicals. Changing rooms, bath rooms and toilets were in really very terrible conditions. I saw it with my own eyes in 2009-2015 and I really doubt that something has changed for the better in the stadium since that times, according information what I periodically receive from local sportsmen and info what I see in local mass-media and in Internet.

Some historical facts about this stadium:

Referred to locally as the Olympic Stadium and originally occupying a site of 40 hectares, the National Sports Complex consists of three main elements: an outdoor stadium seating 50,000, an indoor stadium seating 8,000 and a swimming/diving arena. While the buildings are referred to as the Olympic Stadium, this is a misnomer; though the facilities were designed to Olympic standards (apparently), the Olympics were never planned to be held there. With facilities designed to meet Olympic standards, the complex was constructed in under two years (1962-1964) and was seen at the time as part of Cambodia transforming itself from an "ancient kingdom into a modern nation". Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann was the principal architect, assisted by a team of Cambodian and French architects and engineers. Russian/French Vladimir Bodiansky was crucial to the structural engineering. Major earthworks support the pre-cast seating of the outdoor stadium.

You can see also, a documentary about this stadium here: 

"I skipped down the bleachers to talk to the coaches about helping out on deck. The first coach I talked to spoke very little English and the reinforcement he called over wasn’t much better."

Mr. HEM Kiry and Mr. HEM Lumpat might be that coaches. When I first time came to swimming pool in Olympic stadium, with my club swimmer in 2009, who just arrived from Indonesia where before he was training for 3 years, there were that two local coaches, one of them was head coach and former National Team member who participated in several high level competitions such as Olympic Games, World Championships SC and LC, and SEA Games, where he made several National Records, his name is HEM Kiry, and he spoke that time limited English. Another one - his elder brother HEM Lumpat, also former National Team member who participated in one Olympic Games where he was disqualified, he was assistant of coach. He practically not spoke English at all and just was smiling when I spoke with him in English and periodically shaking his head and telling "Yes, yes or Ok, ok" - so firstly it was difficult for me to understand, if he understood conversation in English or not. Very luckily, I speak myself limited Khmer and several languages more, and our club swimmer is Khmer, who of course speaks fluently in Khmer language and could help me in communications with that two local coaches and other local officials, so later, when I recognized that practically none of them speaks in English well enough to understand conversation, I tried, to communicate with them with help of translator when it was possible or in mixed language of English-limited Khmer-limited French-international mimics.

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