Senior Style

She's now going on 80 and plays every day, mostly at Mount Tam Racquet Club in Larkspur, where she has a thoughtful, supportive coach who pushes her. "I love, love singles. It's in my blood," she says, but she's taking her fourth doubles clinic and likes the challenge, because she has to think differently and learn new strategies to play with a partner. She also competes in the Play Tennis Marin League. Keeling's made lots of friends through tennis, and, "The most joyful time is when I play with good friends or my son," she says. "You can laugh like a kid from the bottom of your heart." She appreciates the physical benefits too. "I feel not a day older than I was when I started to play tennis," she reports. Keeling walks without huffing and puffing, and she can eat what she wants without worrying about the weight because she works it off. Among the perks, she likes to dress up nicely to play, and Athleta invited her to be a model. "I'm happy that I found tennis — or tennis found me," she says. Low-impact swimming is the perfect alternative As a boy, Bill Heydorn, 87, swam in Kinderhook Creek in upstate New York once the ice had melted in the spring. But then he trained in football, baseball and basketball in college and didn't give swimming much thought. When he graduated, he turned down a contract to play professional football and went to Yale Medical School instead. Running and jogging became his preferred forms of exercise, and one of the highlights was participating in Run to the Far Side in Golden Gate Park. Then a hip replacement sidelined him, and he rediscovered swimming. "For about six years, I've been in the pool every day," he says. He does 80 laps — about half a mile — in the pool at the Tiburon Peninsula Club, using a neoprene jacket that he pulls through the water to build arm strength. He also wears a snorkel and mask so he can keep his head in the water, which is gentler on the vertebrae, he says. Heydorn believes that swimming is the ideal sport for seniors with physical limitations. "If you want to continue to exercise, and you have problems with jogging and bicycling, swimming is the perfect alternative," he says. It has social benefits as well, because he swims with friends regularly, and they keep up and talk about the old days. He's writing two books. Time in the water also gives him time to think. "Mentally, you can put yourself anywhere you want to be," he says. "It's always a good day when I can get into the pool and have my swim." n Going the distance: Athletes over 70 Left to right: Christa Keeling (right) pauses after a tennis match with Dominika Halke at Mt. Tam Racquet Club, Larkspur; Keeling modeling at the Athleta store in Corte Madera in 2020; Theresa Leahy striking a pose while on a hike at Vigo di Fassa in the Dolomite mountains; Bill Heydorn at the Tiburon Peninsula Club in Tiburon. – Photos courtesy of Christa Keeling, Theresa Leahy, Kathy Winkler 8 October 17, 2021 Senior Style A Marketing Supplement of the Marin Independent Journal | marinij.com

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