Women swimmers at Y log decades of friendship

There is a group of women in Kettering whose strong bonds of friendship were developed in a swimming pool.

Jean Judge, Sue Schiller, Ede Reitz, Vera Stewart, Jo Luster, Nan Becker, all of Kettering, and Julie Gilvary of Dayton met decades ago at the South Community YMCA on Marshall Road in Kettering. They meet every morning six days a week and swim about 72 laps.

Some of them have been doing this since 1964, when the Y opened its doors 50 year ago.

“We swim for about an hour and then we always go for coffee and conversation,” Becker said.

Reitz was encouraged to participate in lap swimming back when she was raising her five young children.

“A friend said you need to do something for Ede … not your husband, not your children but for you,” she said.

Reitz discovered swimming laps was not only welcomed solitary time but great exercise. Now, a grandmother and great-grandmother, Reitz is still swimming laps. She said her grandchildren are impressed with her swimming.

Stewart brought her five children to the Y for swimming lessons.

“I didn’t know how to swim either,” she said. “I could barely make it down the length of the pool. These lap swimmers helped me and showed me what I was doing wrong.”

Stewart now has many miles of swimming under her belt. She had open heart surgery in July and her doctors and nurses were pleasantly surprised at her remarkable recovery.

“They attribute it to my swimming,” she said.

Becker has been swimming all her life. She’s convinced swimming has extended her life and improved the quality her life.

“Both my parents died in their 50s. I’m 69, so I’ve definitely outlived them,” Becker said. “Also, I have rheumatoid arthritis. I don’t think my joints would be working as well as they are without swimming.”

Judge suffered a serious injury while playing tennis many years ago and had to give up the sport. She discovered swimming and said she is convinced it “makes life better.”

The senior member of the group is Luster, 89, who has been swimming laps for 50 years. Her excellent posture and mobility are that of a woman much younger.

Schiller calls herself an “old jock” who has participated in sports all her life. She said she finds swimming is a great physical activity that easy on the joints and muscles.

Stewart suggests that anyone interested in swimming should try it for a week.

“Then you’ll be hooked,” she said.

“We are a group of women who have absolutely nothing in common except the love of swimming and each other,” said Becker, who has been swimming with the group since 1981. “We are pretty devoted to this. We seldom miss a day. We swim from 7 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. and then shower and get coffee,” she said. “We’ve shared so many things over the years … marriages of children, deaths, births of grandchildren.”