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   Castlegar News - Thursday August 4, 2011
                                and
Trail Daily Times -  Wednesday August 10, 2011
Ninety one and stroking strong !
      BC Seniors Games - West Kootenay 2011

The oldest female swimmer registered for the 2011 Senior Games is young at 91! 

Jean Buchanan went from a dog-paddler as a toddler at Kitsilano beach in Vancouver to a life-long swimmer at the Senior Games.
For Jean, born in Calgary in 1920, swimming has always been a
joy. 

The Senior Games competition is a yearly activity Jean looks forward to since being invited by an old friend and fellow swimming instructor to watch the games in Coquitlam in 1991.

Jean missed the Games in 2009 as she recovered from a broken hip - and broken wrist.  She contributes her good physical fitness
gained through swimming for assisting her rapid and complete recovery. At 91, she  walks without a  cane for about three miles on the days when she doesn't swim. Also, from June until October she conducts swim-exercise classes three mornings a week in the outdoor pool at her town house complex in Langley.
"We had the class in the pouring rain today, " Jean adds with a hearty laugh.

Jean spent her childhood swimming at Kits beach. Between the ages of 10 and 12 she trained with the famous Canadian coach, Percy Norman, with the Vancouver swimming club. She discovered training and competition were not for her.
"I preferred to have fun in the water to training ," she admits. 

Jean went through the Red Cross Water Safety program earning her instructor's qualification.  She taught with the Vancouver 
Parks Board and for the Vancouver School District.

She was also responsible for the Girl Guide  camp waterfront for many years.

Jean did not return to competitive swimming until the fateful invitation to watch. She began her thrice-weekly swim practices and the next year she became a competitor way up north in Dawson Creek. Now she is coming to the Kootenays.

In the 90+ age group she will compete in the 50 m and 100 m backstroke, plus the freestyle events: 100m, 200m, 400, and 800m.

Jean has fond memories of the Kootenays. "My husband was posted to the Royal Bank in Nelson before we were married and we were engaged in Gyro Park",  she confides. "He always accompanied me to the games." Sadly her husband passed away four years ago, shortly after they celebrated their 65th anniversary.

What do the games  mean to Jean? She responds,
"It is the joy of being active and the wonderful friends I have met which makes the games special for me".
                                                           
                                                    Source: the above newspapers


The 2011 B.C. Senior Games were a joint project of the three West Kootenay Cities — Castlegar, Trail and Nelson from August 16 -20.
The swim competitions took place in Trail .

Jean won six Gold Medals !  

Joy Hargreaves   also had a great year, the best one ever since 1992, winning five Gold and two Silver medals.  This is especially remarkable since she has strong competition in her younger age group. 

We congratulate  them both on their achievements!!

Les Hargreaves usually competes in the Javelin throw, but was unable  to this year due to a bad shoulder.  Maybe 2012 games. 

Burnaby is the Host Community for the 2012 BC Seniors Games! For more information please visit the BC Seniors Games website at www.bcseniorsgames.org