A Year of Change- Swimming Stronger at 80

When this Substack hits your inbox, my house will be full as my parents visit from the north. Part of the family activities will be Poppie and I running the Thames Trail Ten mile run with my dad there to support us. It feels like a poignant moment, the perfect time to talk about being of the sandwich generation but not in the usual way.

Instead of caring for aging parents and still parenting adult children (and their children) I’m coaching them both as they continue and start their fitness journeys. It’s a different kind of caregiving, and honestly, it’s a privilege, but there’s something both nerve-wracking and deeply humbling about having your parent ask you for your coaching advice.

My dad has stayed active long after giving up running when COVID hit in 2020. He tells me he lost his enthusiasm for running when he hit his sixties, if he couldn’t run a half marathon in 2hrs 15mins, he felt it wasn’t worth turning up! Wow, how times have changed! What didn’t help with his motivation was a couple of last place finishes and a 10k where the marshals packed up early leaving him completely lost on the course; I wish I’d been his coach back then because I’d certainly would have had a few things to say! But, apparently, I did as my Mum tells me I once asked her, “Why does he put himself through it?” I think it must’ve been hard for me to see him struggle.

He continued to do a local 5km loop around plus the weekly parkrun but decided if he couldn’t manage it in an hour it wasn’t worth it. However, to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in 2016 both my parents ran their local parkrun together.

Despite these running setbacks Dad continued to swim and at the start of this year, he found himself slowing down in the pool experiencing bouts of fatigue. He told me he was frustrated and wanted to make a change, but he also knew that vague good intentions wouldn’t be enough - he needed some structure, and he asked me for help.

We kept it simple, nutrition first, his food diary showed me that his diet was good, but I suggested more nutrient-dense meals, better balance of protein and carbohydrates and, the big one, I suggested he eat more! Within six weeks, he felt his energy levels improve. Phew! I’d got him on board!

Then (and only then), we tackled his training, I suggested structured swim sets with warm-ups, reps, and pyramids, plus steady bike rides on his static bike. I also added in some light strength work, again nothing too drastic, just gentle reps with some light weights and sure enough, another six weeks later, he was swimming a mile about 10% faster! As he approached his 80th birthday last April, and a big bash, he set a line in the sand that after his party, he’d give up alcohol (well, almost completely).

Six months later, the results speak for themselves, he’s fitter, stronger, and more consistent in the pool. He’s lost half a stone, and right now he’s seventeen miles into a virtual Channel Swim Challenge for the charity Aspire, steadily clocking up the 22 miles from Dover to Calais.

I’m so proud of him, it’s easy to say “I’m too old, or it’s too late” - feeling past it is no fun. The only reason I ran my first marathon 20 years ago was because dad told me the only thing he wanted for his 60th birthday was for us to run a marathon together. I wonder if Poppie will do this for me when I’m 60?

Later, in my running, when I broke the one-hour barrier in the 10km, the incentive from my dad was a bottle of champagne to celebrate, a tradition that continues as a “sub-60 bottle of fizz” for my own club members and continues with Poppie who ran her first sub-60 10k recently, champagne waiting.

Three generations, three stories, my dad in the pool at 80, me building RunVerity over the last decade, and Poppie hitting her own milestone as a new mum. What links it all isn’t just fitness, but the mix of structure, support, and celebration.

Improvement isn’t about age or medals; it’s about showing up, making small, manageable changes, and remembering that tiny steps build legacies. Whether you’re swimming, running, or just trying to feel a bit more like yourself, I’ve found the same principles apply: steady, balanced changes create lasting results.

Sometimes it feels like I’m holding both generations together with a stopwatch - keeping my dad going forward, keeping my daughter grounded, and somewhere in between, remembering to run myself! I wouldn’t have it any other way!