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Holding her own at 95 and holding her gold. Ethel Lehmann, 95, is the last Geezer Jock story of 2024 and shows what is possible as you set fitness goals for 2025.
By Ray Glier
BRANDON, Fla.___Ethel Lehmann, 95, must have endurance made of steel wrapped around her muscles. Not once did you get the impression she over-stepped her limits doing a preposterous 10 events at the Florida Senior Games two weekends ago.
But it wasn't her endurance that made Ethel so remarkable to me.
It was the Alice-in-Wonderland quality to her day, which was embracing her true self and throwing off society's constraints.
Ethel was buoyant. She was pixieish. She was wide-eyed and light-hearted.
“Sports,” she said, “is a gift from God.”
And she treated it as such.
On Saturday, December 14, Ethel competed in the long jump, high jump, triple jump, shot put, and javelin here at the Florida Senior Games.
On Sunday, December 15, Lehmann competed in the 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800.
The woman is 95 and she ran around a track twice without stopping in the 800. She left her feet in the jumps. She threw a stick, that javelin, 101 feet. And she was still smiling. Not one complaint came from her about a sore back, or sore knee, or sore this or sore that.
Ethel took 10 gold medals home to Largo, Fla., because the only other competitor in those events with her was Father Time. She was the oldest at the track meet in her age class. That Ethel was still competing meant Father Time had to settle for silver. He can’t beat Lehmann, at least not yet.
At this point, Father Time is just another man and Ethel competes with the men just fine. She joined not one, but two men’s softball teams when she was 45.
“I would go to the gas station on the corner after one doubleheader and change into the jersey of my other team before the second doubleheader,” Lehmann said.
At 75, she was on the NBC Today Show with her softball team, Kids and Kubs. She was the only woman on the team, which follows a strict rule of 75 years old and above to get a roster spot.
A year ago, at 94, Ethel, a second baseman, and her softball team were part of a segment by a Florida TV station. They have a motto "Motion is lotion."
If you are having trouble getting motivated for exercise for 2025, watch that TV clip where Ethel has a prominent role. A big idea should hit you between the eyes as you watch:
Stay in shape by playing your favorite sport.
Lehmann is still active beyond softball, which she plays two times a week. Ethel also bowls two times a week and runs.
It’s not that Lehmann is without her down time. Sometimes age can rear its head and smack her down. Here’s a clip of a learning experience, but also notice the bright eyes and effervescence as she talks.
Ethel has two goals. Her Aunt Lillian lived to be 104. Lehmann wants to be 105.
Ethel’s other goal is to be the exemplar of the great singer Bing Crosby, who played a round of golf in Madrid on October 13,1977 and fell dead of a heart attack walking to the clubhouse.
“I want to hit a home run, cross home plate, and then drop dead,” she said in the spirit of Alice in Wonderland, which embraces adventure and imagination.
Until that end time comes, Father Time will have to look at the back of Ethel Lehmann as she beats him across the finish line.
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Darlene Backlund
December 29, 2024
I totally agree with how you wish to die.
My hope, also, is to cross the finish line after competing in racewalking and then die. “Do it while you can” is my motto and I like yours- motion is lotion.