Competitive spirit keeps you young

PATRICK HAMILTON/Nelson Mail

NEVER TOO OLD: Derek Eaton, 68, Peter Gibbs, 61, and Stuart Hebberd, 61, after last weekend's 2km endurance swim.

This year has passed like a blur. On the fitness front, I expected a huge amount from it, most of which wasn't delivered. Life's a bit like that; you don't appreciate your blessings when they arrive, because you think they're just a stepping stone to the real accomplishment.

As an athlete, I had a really good year in 2008. At the time, there were so many hitches and complications I thought 2009 would be better. Wrong – in 2008 I put in the effort, I was focused and I achieved great results, which I didn't think were so great at the time. As a 60-year-old athlete, I performed at the top of my game and finished my big race in the top dozen in the world. Did I have cause for complaint? Certainly not, but it's taken me a year to realise that.

This year I consolidated one of my other roles, that of event organiser.

Competing is such a good thing. The physical activity is a challenge and it's healthy. We don't all have to win, but I believe in competition. Winning is not a dirty word, not winning is not a disgrace, but striving for excellence is character building and helps us understand ourselves.

In 2009 I organised a triathlon series for the Nelson Triathlon and Multisport Club. The New Zealand Police tapped into the series and used one race as their national championship. Loads of people turned up to give them a run for their money and we had a great race on a perfect day at Rabbit Island, one of Nelson's treasured locations.

The autumn Shoe Clinic Mountainbike Duathlon series of three races has been running five years. It's an incubator for family sport, a chance for beginners to rub shoulders with some of the country's best. Some of New Zealand's top athletes turn up for a spin in the forest, but so do mum, dad and the kids, getting out their mountainbikes for some heavy breathing in one of the best events there is (pardon me for being proud of this).

A few years ago, Peter Owen of the Eyebright organisation asked if I'd be involved in the swim series he'd organised for 20 years.

The organisational and safety requirements had become too great for one person and I was able to tuck the health and safety requirements, insurance and personnel backup under the umbrella of the tri club.

Last month we started the third season of what has become the Port Nelson Summer Sea Swim Series. Numbers have grown from an average of just over 40 to 135 so far this season.

Because we have such a dedicated team, I'm able, as event organiser, to grab the loudspeaker for the race briefing, then slip into the water to do battle with my adversaries.

What would be the point of organising a race unless I could do it myself? And that's where the real reward lies.

The competitive urge doesn't lessen one iota with age. There are no past glories that can compare with the spirit of competition in the here and now.

Derek Eaton, 68, is best known as a former bishop of Nelson, more recently active in the diocese of Cairo. Did you know that in the 1950s he was a national swim champ?

Stuart Hebberd, 61, the mild-mannered chemist of Collingwood St (and sponsor of the Prices Pharmacy Inner Harbour Circuit over 2km last weekend) is actually a demon swimmer with an unbeatable sprint finish (as I know to my cost).

To my chagrin, I've had to bow to both these supermen of the sea so far this season. They won't get away with it all season, as I fully intend to have my day.

The point is, we are three mature men (they're both more mature than I am).

We all believe in fair competition (although Derek has slightly unfair divine intervention). We will never grow old while we continue to believe that we are forever young.

You can too.