Bill Blake III '59 Wins Gold Medal at Senior Olympics

July 22, 2003

July 22, 2003, Greencastle, Ind. - "Two years ago, Bill Blake, 66, decided to regain his swimming form after being retired from his high school and collegiate sport for 42 years," begins an article in the Dallas Morning News. "Mr. Blake was an accomplished athlete, earning All-American honors in swimming in high school and in swimming and cross-country while attending DePauw University in Indiana," Harry Hall writes of Blake, a 1959 graduate of DePauw.

The story points out that Blake "recently returned from the U.S. Masters Swimming Short Course National Championships at Arizona State University and from The Senior Olympics in Hampton Roads, Virginia." What it does not note is that Blake placed first at the National Senior Olympics in the men's 65-69 division in the 50 yard freestyle and second among 65 to 69-year-old men in the 100 yard freestyle.

Blake tells the Morning News that the sport of swimming has seen big changes since he competed collegiately. "The advent of goggles. We didn't wear them in college. Back then, I needed eye drops all the time. Newer pools put the waves into waveless gutters, eliminating backwash. The tank suits we wear now allow you to really glide through the water. And the coaching is much better." He also offers advice to those seeking to get fit. ""Keep active. Get after it. Get in a regimen. I know every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I'm going to do it. Sometimes I want to stay in bed, but the decision on what to do has already been made."