'The pressure is off': B.C.'s oldest competitive swimmer calling it quits after final race
Alfred Schulhof, 97, has decided to retire from the pool after race in Nanaimo, B.C., Saturday
At 97 years old, Alfred Schulhof is B.C.'s oldest competitive swimmer and the oldest active member of Masters Swimming Canada. But after one final swim on Saturday, he plans on saying goodbye to the sport.
"I'm sad, but in a way I'm glad because the pressure is off," said Schulhof.
Over the past few years, he says age has caught up with him and has made it more difficult to swim.
"My breathing isn't great at this stage, so I am limited in the amount I can swim continuously. I usually swim two to three lengths and that's it," said Schulhof.
He wasn't even planning on swimming this last time, but his wife of almost 70 years insisted.
"Probably to keep me in good shape," he said with a laugh.
Schulhof is a life-long swimmer and competed during his university days in Ireland, winning several medals and awards. Swimming also introduced him to his wife — who was a competitive swimmer herself.
"She was with friends and I was with friends and we just met and got interested in each other I guess and it took four years and I married her," he said.
But then life got in the way, and he took an extended break — of more than five decades — from the sport.
Schulhof didn't compete again until 1999, by which time the family had long since moved to Canada. He picked it up after hearing about a swim meet near his home in West Vancouver.
"I saw these people, they were fairly old and I thought, 'well I can do that,'" he said.
The North Shore Masters Swim Club member has racked up dozens of Canadian records. His go-to strokes are the backstroke and breaststroke, but lately, he says, it hasn't been a level playing field.
"You can't call this competing anymore because there is no one the same age. I automatically come first in my age group," he said.
Schulhof, who says his age still comes as a shock to him, encourages young people to get into swimming.
"It's a great exercise and you meet some wonderful people, I've met some wonderful people," he said.
