Introduction
Despite the recommendation that physical exercise is an important way to maintain health, few people maintain fitness levels throughout their lifetime and realize their full fitness potential. In a recent Commonwealth of Australia census, it "~>vas found that 34.8% of men aged 65- 74 years did not exercise, 26.6% did only low levels of exercise, 17.5% did medium levels of exercise, and 21 .1% did high levels of exercise, compared with 15.5% who did high levels of exercise in the 55- 64 year age group.
The statistics for men aged 45- 54 years were even more alarming, with only 12.9% doing regular high levels of exercise. The 'mid-life crisis of men', which is said to represent a last chance for men to consider their own needs and desires, rather than considering only their family and how best to support them. Feeling less trapped, a man will be able to establish an independent emotional identity apart fi·om his wife and his need to project his own denied femininity onto her will lessen, by reclaiming it for himself. He overcomes guilt and anxiety about no longer wanting to be a traditional, stereotyped male. Divorce and the midlife crises are opportunities for men to free themselves from the danger of compulsory relationships.
Given the questions that the midlife crisis may raise for men, it seems worthwhile to ask how the effect of regular physical exercise may offset the crises that the older man my experience. One may also ask that if regular exercise ·was done throughout life, docs that help to shape one's mental attitude and physical health? My attention was drawn to interviewing Mr D who is a 63-year-old man, recently retired and separated from his wife, and also a recent world title holder for the men's 200 metre breaststroke and many other Australian and state titles and records.
The interview
I interviewed Mr D, best known as the captain of a masters swimming club and recent world title holder of the 200 metre breast stroke in his age group. I knock confidently on the door, and within minutes Mr D had opened it, his eyes wide open in wonder. He had forgotten the arranged time and place of the interview and apologized profusely at his oversight. I ask him whether it is not too inconvenient for him and he assures me that there are no problems, it was more that he has been very busy lately. He offers me a cup of blackcurrant tea. I accept and sit on one of the hand made Swiss styled wooden chairs that he offers. The most striking contrast is that this house does not have any floor coverings. When I ask about this, he says that it is better for his health because he is asthmatic and less dust accumulates on the bare floor. He also believes that it is easier for him to clean. Immediately in front of me there is a cabinet full of trophies, most recently for his swimming and card playing. He explains that he tried to make a cabinet to display his medals but unfortunately it could not hold them all, the bottom broke and all the medals fell out.
We started the interview by looking at when Mr D commenced his swimming career. He says that he learnt to swim when he was 6 years old in Switzerland where he was born. He persevered at swimming because he suffered asthma wHh attacks most frequently occurring after having a cold or bronchitis. When he was about 17 years of age, he used to go to an indoor swimming centre and he found that swimming freestyle up and down very slowly in freestyle relieved the attack after about 10 min. Mr D said that this relief was most likely due to tl1e forced regulated breathing pattern of freestyle and the same relief did not happen during breaststroke or backstroke 'because you can breathe whenever you want to.' He said that swimming would always relieve his asthma and in this he had found a suitable 'cure'.
He joined a swimming club when he was 17 and remained with the club until he was about 28. He then went overseas and swam independently, returned to S·witzerland rejoining the same club for a year and then came to Australia and joined a masters swimming club in 1981 immediately after the 'Aussie Masters' became established. Since then he has swum with the same club. What he likes about swimming is maintaining his physical fltness followed by social contact, competition and stroke correction. The effect of swimming on his family had 164 been positive. He stated that he enjoyed swimming with his first wife and especially his children. He said that his three children excelled at school carnivals in swimming and that this helped them to become peer leaders. His first marriage ended for reasons unrelated to swimming, but he, his children and his first wife remained very friendly. He said that he met his second wife in the masters swimming club and that she was a very good swimmer. They shared some good times for about 2 years he said, then suddenly she lost interest and became sick. Overall, he believes that swimming has had a very positive effect on his social activities and network, but he stressed that he did not think that this was due only to swimming, he said that any activity was bound to positively affect one's social life.
He says that swimming has had a positive effect on his self perception. He gave an example of how he was sick in hospital and missed the physical activity of swimming. He also emphasized enjoyment of walking especially in Switzerland saying that he ·walked up to the peaks of the mountains by walking paths and walking huts.
He believes that swimming ha5 also had a positive effect on his position in his former "vorkplace where he worked as an architect. Here they had regular aquatic challenges, similar to the Australian 'Corporate Cup' in running. Four or five colleagues formed a team and they swam (500-1000 metres) once a fortnight. At one stage they had three or four teams and he believed that they formed closer bonds together at work: 'more than just being at work, because you see another aspect of your fellow workers.' He said that the comradeship or the looser connection to each other was built upon, which was infectious. His most memorable achievement was winning the world championship 200 metres breaststroke, where there were 3500 other swimmers with 160 men in his age group who came from all over the world. The event '.vas held in Montreal, Canada, and this year it will be in Sheffield, England. He said that swimming in the final of the 200 metre breaststroke was most memorable because there were 10 lanes and each lane had a competitor from a different country.
Most recently he S'Nam from Perth to Rottnest Island but he said that this was just a challenge, and said that he didn't think anyone had to swim that much, for fitness or for preventing asthma. He said that he did it because he enjoyed it so much, and notably had gone with one of his close swimming companions. He said that he also swam Practice reports every weekend and during the week. He swam 18 km the previous day ·with the same friend around an artificial island in the outer suburbs of Adelaide. He particularly enjoyed it because his friend had a similar swimming ability and fitness level despite being about 20 years younger. Mr D said that he alternated his morning training with the evenings and his overall aim was to get three swims done during the week and one or two during the weekend.
Unlike many men , Mr D had a well established sense of purpose when he retired. Although he had been employed in a professional occupation and had worked with people whom he enjoyed, he stated that he had no problems aHanging his life afterwards. In particular, his retirement gave him much more fi·ccdom to pursue interests that he had no time to pursue while working. He was also free to travel back to s ... vitzerland and compete in overseas swimming competitions. He claimed that he was much busier now than when he was working. He separated from his second wife at the time of his retirement and swimming allowed him to be among supportive friends and to help him release any tensions he may have felt during this time. Unlike many men, he had a ready support network to fall back on, and a sense of identity independent from his work and his marriage.
Conclusion
Swimming has given Mr D a sense of identity outside his work and family. He has received much acclaim for his swimming during his latter part of life and has distinguished himself through perseverance through his life course. Apart from his asthmatic illness, which originally motivated him to swim, he is in excellent health and has never suffered a serious mental or physical illness. He is distinct in tlhat he has never neglected his leisure interests, and this commitment has been beneficial "vhen other aspects of his life have floundered. His life story lends much weight to the argument that sport should be encouraged across all age groups for both men and women and may play an important role in assisting individuals to maintain optimal mental and physical health throughout the life span.
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