She Swam 10 Million Yards

Julie Wolpers didn’t describe herself as a swimmer when I asked who she was.

Mom. Grandmom. Dog mom. Creative thinker. Late bloomer. Swimmer? Nope.

Which becomes considerably more interesting when you learn Julie has swum 10 MILLION YARDS.

Training For Aging

Julie spent years on pool decks watching her children swim. Eventually, after they left home, she realized it was time to focus some attention on herself.

Then she turned 60. Her thought wasn’t about qualifying for a race or standing on a podium. It was much simpler: she needed to start training for aging.

Swimming became that training.

What started as distances Julie wasn’t sure she could complete eventually became 5,000-yard sessions and, today, regular swims of 6,000 yards or more.

The cumulative total eventually crossed 10 million. But the number isn’t really the interesting part.

ADVERTISEMENT

When Swimming Becomes Sanctuary

Julie has experienced breast cancer, a hip replacement and other physical setbacks. During radiation treatment, swimming became more than exercise.

It became somewhere she could process what was happening.

As Julie told me, nobody can see you cry in the pool.

That sentence probably says more about endurance sports than any pace, distance or training metric ever could.

From 500 Yards To Millions

There was a time when Julie considered 500 yards a long swim. Then she began seeing other people swimming 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 yards.

Her reaction wasn’t that they were extraordinary and she wasn’t.

It was: if they can do it, maybe I can too. So she went a little farther. Then farther again.

That’s how an Everyday Athlete story becomes a 10-million-yard story.

Not overnight. Not because somebody handed Julie a perfectly optimized training plan. She actually prefers the “free swim” option and changes workouts according to how she feels.

She even wears fins because they make swimming more fun. Good.

Your Ten Minutes Count Too

Julie’s 10 million yards don’t mean you need to swim 10 million yards.

Maybe they mean you can swim for ten minutes. Ten becomes fifteen. Fifteen becomes thirty.

Maybe swimming isn’t your thing at all. The lesson remains the same: there isn’t a timeline for becoming an athlete, trying something new or discovering what your body can still do.

Julie calls herself a late bloomer. Ten million yards later, I’d say she’s still blooming.

Listen On Apple Podcasts

Listen On Spotify

ADVERTISEMENT