00:00 [Music]
00:04 Betty Brussel never intended to take part in swimming competitions.
00:08 I was never that serious.
00:10 I go for it, but if I don't win, it's okay too.
00:15 But somehow or other, I did win quite often.
00:20 And at 99, Brussel is doing more than just winning.
00:24 On January 20th at the Canadian Masters Championship in Victoria,
00:28 she broke several world records in her age category.
00:31 Most of my records I didn't know I was going for.
00:36 I'd come out and they say, "You broke a record!"
00:39 I never really, you know, she made my, like Linda, my coach, she made me
00:46 last week to do, you know, to think about it, but for the rest I never even think
00:51 about it. So I just go and do as well as I can.
00:57 [Music]
01:03 While she competes in various styles and distances, the 400 meter freestyle is her favorite.
01:08 [Music]
01:12 She says the construction of a municipal swimming pool in the small town of
01:15 Grand Forks changed the course of her life forever.
01:19 She was just 68 when she started swimming competitively.
01:22 After I retired, I started to swim. Then I met up with people from the
01:29 senior games and I started to swim with them.
01:36 And I just got better and better, every year a little bit better.
01:42 Now living in New Westminster, Brussel swims laps twice a week at a Surrey pool.
01:47 I go to the pool here and swim. That's my training. I have never really
01:54 trained. I just swim.
01:57 [Music]
02:08 I just feel good about swimming. I just love to swim. I love the feeling
02:14 of being in the water, gliding through the water. You have no weight in the pool.
02:19 While she's a bit shy of all the recent attention, Brussel hopes her achievements
02:22 can encourage others to be active. I really honestly don't feel special.
02:28 Very often when I come in the pool on a meet, people come up to me and
02:33 they say, "I thought I was too old to start" or
02:38 "I think I'm gonna quit. I'm getting old and I'm young." Look at me and they say,
02:42 "Well, you can do it if you want to." She adds being old is a state of mind and
02:47 that everyone can go swimming, no matter their age. And for her future
02:51 competitions, she has one simple goal. To be able to do it.
02:56 [Music]
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