Age doesn't weary aged athletes

The night before swimmer Margo Bates won another gold medal at the World Masters Games she was out on Sydney Harbour drinking champagne, eating oysters and likely telling the rest of the cruise party about her great-grandchildren.

To celebrate getting her medal tally up to 180 with a win in the 100-metres freestyle, 99-year-old Bates was expecting another late night attending a concert by waltzy-schmatlzy violinist Andre Rieu.

But the majority of the 28,000 competitors at the seventh in the world masters series are a lot more focused on winning than the Adelaide great-grandmother.

While she swims 400 metres three mornings a week, those moving up the ranks to where Bates resides in the higher age brackets are doing a lot more.

You won't see them on the harbour or in the audience for Andre Rieu the night before they compete.

And unlike Bates, who expects to slip into the pool for at least seven events this week, most are focussed on just one big chance of glory.

Germany's Jago Liss, 34, is a 10,000-metre runner. He's travelled half way round the world for half-an-hour's effort and one go at immortality.

Liss is testimony to the rising standards at the masters level.

If you want to win, you focus.

"I'm just going in for a swim," Bates said by way of explaining her relaxed attitude to competition. "I don't do anything special for the games or anything else."

For most, this week in Sydney is the culmination of months of assiduous preparation.

Britain's Bill Moore, 72, swims 2 kilometres a day, has weight training sessions and has a day when he puts in a 20-kilometre walk in the Yorkshire Dales.

"The training these days is a lot more intensive," said Moore, a silver medallist in the 200-metre breaststroke at the last games in Canada. "I'm doing times that are the same as when I was swimming for Yorkshire as a schoolboy."

Moore, attending his third World Masters Games, complains about the food at Sydney's Olympic precinct.

"It's all junk food," he said. "It's difficult to get the right sort of food."

And he's right: competitors are queuing down the street for salad sandwiches at Subway, while the Gloria Jean's coffee bar and The Brewery pub in the Olympic precinct are bereft of customers.

Chris Fydler is one of over 200 former Olympians competing in Sydney this week. He was part of the Australian quartet that famously vanquished the Americans in the 4x100-metre relay at the Sydney Games.

At 36, Fydler's coming back to competing and knows it won't be a pushover. "I was a bit nervous all day looking towards the race," he said.

Fydler said the games were essentially fun, but noted that "nobody likes to lose."

Fylder and fellow former greats are entering a realm where attitudes have changed. It's fun, but competition is intense and those over 60 are often devoting most of their time to training and competing.

Australia's Brian Graber, 70, is the oldest surf lifesaver and has been training for something or other all his life.

"The secret of staying fit is never stop training," he said.

What spurs many on at the masters level is that they are beating much younger competitors.

Kevin Titus, competing in the 10,000 metres in the 50-54 age classification, put in a time of 34 minutes 44 seconds. He came eighth. Only a few decades ago a time like that would have got him into the Olympics.

The very oldest competitors sometimes just have to turn up and go the distance to win a medal. Canada's Olga Kotelko, at 90, is fully expecting to win nine gold medals.

What really gives her a buzz, though, is creating a challenge for herself: beating younger athletes - often by a big margin.

"I still feel fit, healthy and strong," she said. "There's no way I'm retiring any time soon."

By Sid Astbury