The number of Centenarians continues to increase, although the “average†life expectancy is in decline due to COVID-19, opioid drug overdoses and other issues. The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed one of them, 100 year old Charlotte Sanddal. The World War II veteran attributes some of her good health to swimming regularly. A friend encouraged her to enter a freestyle event at the 1994 Montana Senior Olympics, where she won the gold medal. Girls didn’t have the opportunity to compete in sports when she grew up during the 1920’s. After winning her medal at age 72, she started training with a Masters swimming program near her home in Helena, Montana. She slowly learned to flip turn, a technique used to change directions by somersaulting and pushing off the pool wall with your feet, and got all four strokes down. Butterfly was the hardest, she said. Congratulations on your longevity Charlotte.
