The athlete in the Winnipeg public pool looks no different than the dozens of other lean and determined swimmers. Lap after lap, he methodically glides through the water until his practice session is through. Jaring Timmerman, though, is unique. He just finished celebrating his 100th birthday last month and, with over 160 swimming medals to his credit, this record holder is still in competition and aiming for gold.

From Rotterdam to Winnipeg
Born in Rotterdam, Holland, to Salvation Army parents (his father was a corps sergeant-major in Rotterdam), Timmerman was four years old when his family settled in Winnipeg on the eve of the First World War. In his youth, he worked as an office boy with the Standard Elevator Company. In order to gain more experience, he asked his boss if he could work with an elevator repair crew for the summer. “Well, that just about killed me,” he laughs now. “I was soft, having worked in an office all my life. We'd start at seven o'clock in the morning and we'd finish at nine at night. They were long days.”

Timmerman served as a Lancaster bomber navigator during the Second World War, during which he and his crewmates survived a 30-mission tour of duty over the skies of Nazi-occupied Europe. “We actually did 31 trips,” says Timmerman. “I think we were protected by the Lord. He had a purpose for us all.” Returning to Winnipeg at the end of the conflict, he went back to work, rising to become general manager and eventually president of the Grain & Guarantee Co. Ltd.

Going for the Gold
After retiring, Timmerman and his wife would spend winters in Arizona. One day in 1989, his wife, Gladys, saw a newspaper item for what was then called the Senior Olympics. “That was before the Olympic Committee told them they couldn't use the word Olympic any more,” chuckles Timmerman.

At the urging of Gladys, he eventually signed up for the swim meet. The 80-year-old was ambivalent. He knew how to swim but had never competed professionally.

“No one was more shocked than me when I won the gold medal in the 200-metre event,” he says.

From there, a passion for swimming took hold and he proceeded to win more races at the nationals held later that year. “Then I went to Denmark for the World Masters Games and won two silvers and a gold medal,” he relates.

Having competed in swim meets as far afield as Minneapolis, Montreal and Germany, Timmerman is unsure whether he will compete at the 2009 World Masters Games in Sydney, Australia, in the fall. He does plan to attend the 2009 Canadian Masters Swimming Championships in Toronto, in May. “I'll be entered in four events,” he says, “and I'm training to beat the world record. That's going to be interesting.”

Determination and Dedication
Timmerman maintains a gruelling exercise regimen that would put people half his age to shame. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, he works out in the pool for 45 minutes to an hour. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, he exercises with weights, using a modified form of the air-force program he learned during the war.
“It's nothing wonderful. Anyone can do it,” he modestly asserts. “All you need is determination and dedication.”

Timmerman is an active Salvationist and attends Winnipeg East Community Church. “I don't know how active one can be at 100,” he smiles, “but I'm there every Sunday.”

Timmerman's spiritual life and his relationship with God continue to be important. “I wouldn't say it's closer now that I am older because I've always had a close relationship with him. But it's something I cherish, and I'm a great believer in prayer.”

Fitness of body, mind and soul are all tied together, he believes. “You can't have one without the others, and you especially need a good relationship with the Lord. Without that, it's all nothing.”

Photo credit: Jeff De Booy/Winnipeg Free Press