ARTICLES MODERN

Fitness : By LIZ ROBBINS : DARA TORRES, the 41-year-old Olympic swimmer with the impossibly chiseled abs who collected three silver medals in Beijing, has proved at the elite level that getting older doesn’t mean getting slower in the water. But put her aside for now.

Even outside the elite ranks, the 40-something (and older) swimmer of today is faster than the 40-something of yesteryear.

Researchers at the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming at Indiana University have found that the larger population of Masters swimmers (made up of 42,500 members ages 18 to 100-plus) has become faster over the last 20 years in age groups from 25 to 55, said Joel Stager, the director of the center.

Why is that?
They are applying better skills.
“Technique trumps training,” Dr. Stager said. “Water is the great equalizer.”

Chief among the reasons that Masters swimmers are becoming faster, say coaches, researchers and swimmers themselves, are improved stroke mechanics and new training methods emphasizing intensity over distance. This is good news both for those who like to race, and for those taking to the water for fitness at any age.

As people age, they lose muscle mass and cardiovascular capacity, which declines at a rate of 1 to 1.5 percent annually. But for those who exercise regularly, the rate of decline is slower, researchers say.

“Before, it was thought that athletes peak at 25,” said Scott Trappe, the director of the Human Performance Laboratory at Ball State University. “But now this whole paradigm is getting shifted. People are paying attention to their own fitness and nutrition.”

Swimmers can compensate for their body’s natural decline mostly because the water rewards those who are more technically proficient, and also because unlike running or cycling, the sport is non-weight-bearing and enables prolonged participation. “People can and do get faster, despite the fact that they may be 10, 20 years older than when they first started,” Dr. Stager said.

Here are five competitive Masters swimmers, ages 40 and well beyond, who help prove that point.

Kicking Like Flipper

Kristin Gary swam at Duke University in the late 1980s but tired of the long workouts. Now, Ms. Gary, a 40-year-old art dealer in Manhattan, has recaptured the joy through swimming for the Red Tide, a Masters swim team in New York.

Her personal best for the 100-yard backstroke is now 59.47 seconds; in college, it was 1:00.07.

Her coach, Eric Mitchell, thinks one reason for the improvement is Ms. Gary’s ability to execute the dolphin kick, an underwater kick that was not allowed when she was in college.

Anyone watching the recent Olympic Games was able to see the kick performed by experts like Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin.

Swimmers can now use the kick up to 15 yards underwater in competition, on turns and after dives off the blocks. They gain power from both legs moving together in concert with the body, which undulates like a dolphin.

Fitness swimmers don’t necessarily need the dolphin kick (though it is always fun to try a trick from an Olympian’s playbook), but those who want to be faster may find it useful. But it doesn’t help everyone.

“It depends on how good a person is at it,” said Mr. Mitchell, who makes it his top teaching priority. “It takes a good amount of core strength and a good amount of flexibility.”

Hand and Arm Techniques

Stanley Shechter, 75, is still trying to master the dolphin kick, but finds an alternating-leg flutter kick to be more effective. But he recently discovered that hand positioning after diving into the water can help shave time at the start of a race.

He practiced his dives off the blocks one afternoon at Asphalt Green on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (where he belongs to the Masters team), placing one hand over the other, with fingers together to eliminate bubbles and drag, the way Patrick Cantrell, his coach, had instructed.

Mr. Shechter straightened his arms, keeping them close to his ears, and held the pose underwater. “It’s tough to hold your arms for that long,” he said. “But it works.”

He has also honed his freestyle technique by bringing his arms farther back behind his body, rather than in a half circle. “I am a smoother swimmer now than I was before,” he said.

Mr. Shechter attributes his improvement to practicing five days a week, but is mindful not to go too far. That approach, too, represents advanced training filtered down from many elite programs.

Coaches and swimmers have discovered that less is sometimes more, especially in events no longer than 100 yards, as is the case with Mr. Shechter. In 2003, he swam the 100-meter freestyle at the Masters national meet in 1:23.46. In May, he won the 75- to 79-year-old division at the nationals in the 100-yard freestyle in 1:12.67.

That’s the Spirit

When improving performance, the psychological lift cannot be ignored.

Tracy Grilli, 51, believes that setting goals as a team makes a marked difference. Ms. Grilli is the administrator at the United States Masters Swimming national office in Londonderry, N.H., and belongs to a local team. But her Mighty Mermaids team is made up of friends averaging age 50 from New Jersey, California and Virginia.

To prepare for the Lake Tahoe Relay, an open-water swim in July, Ms. Grilli charted their individual yardage on the Internet, for what became a virtual swim up the Mississippi River.

“It is the people I swim with that make the difference,” she said. “That’s what gives you the motivation. I could swim alone and say, ‘I’m tired.’ That’s not going to make me swim any faster.”

Turning Back the Clock

Not every swimmer over 40 can set records. For many, being fit is as much a goal as being fast.

Andy Weiss has thick white hair and a chest scar from his 1996 bypass surgery but looks younger than his 87 years.

“A lot of people call me a freak,” said Mr. Weiss, who swims an hour three days a week at Asphalt Green, where he is a Masters team member. “After swimming I feel wonderful. I feel like I am getting somewhere.”

He won two silver medals and a gold medal at the May nationals, but says he enjoys the water’s revitalizing power.

His recommendations for improving?

“Don’t smoke, get a good coach, get enough sleep, a full eight hours,” he said, before adding with a laugh: “And don’t get older.”

For Marie Kelleher, aging has not hampered her routine. She swims four days a week at a Y.M.C.A. in suburban Richmond, Va., logging a half-mile each day. She alternates strokes (including butterfly and breaststroke) for 30 minutes of laps. At 95, she won her age group at a regional Masters meet in February, with a time of 3:02.75 in the 100-yard freestyle.

“I started swimming because I wanted to keep in shape,” she said in a telephone interview. “As long as I can drive myself to the pool, I am going to keep swimming.”

She was impressed, though maybe not inspired, by Ms. Torres.

“How old is she again?” Ms. Kelleher asked.

When told 41, she laughed and said: “Well, I’m more than twice her age.”

MOMEEN reporting from LIZ ROBBINS