Firsthand—experiences with aging
By Claudia Parliament
Returning to synchronized swimming after a 32-year hiatus has significantly altered my life. When my high school coach retired in 1993, several of us organized a show in her honor. We enjoyed it so much we started a masters synchro team, the Minnesota Northern Pikes, and since 1995 we have competed at the annual U.S. Masters Championships. My middle sister and I are the oldest members on the team, at ages 71 and 75. In our most recent national competition, our six-member team placed second in our age group category.
My youngest sister, who competed nationally and internationally in her youth, returned from California in 1998 and became the head coach of a local club. She asked us to help with coaching. Currently, the club has more than 80 swimmers, ages 8 to19.
What keeps me coaching 5 days a week, 10 months a year? Primarily, it is the engagement with young women. Often, they start at a tender age with limited body awareness and control and leave as self-confident, poised women with life skills of teamwork, goal-setting and focus. I have a 10-year window to watch them progress, longer than a classroom teacher or high school coach.
What keeps me swimming twice a week with our masters team? The friendship of teammates, the benefit of staying fit with the strength and flexibility needed to compete, and the satisfaction of feeling better about myself, both mentally and emotionally. In addition, synchro is s a sport with few sports-related injuries—no broken bones, torn ligaments, falls or crashes—a concern as we age.
Conclusion: stay active, engage in a project, and do something you enjoy, perhaps bringing forward skills or interests from your youth.
If you would like to share a firsthand experience related to health and aging, please contact Ron Anderson, UMRA Cares Committee, at [email protected].
News
Since retiring from the College of Biological Sciences faculty, UMRA member Kathryn Hanna has pursued her longtime interest in the arts and antiques and is currently the co-president of the Fan Association of North America, a nonprofit organization of hand fan collectors.
October 1 marks the start of the 2025 competition for financial support from UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees program. Retirees from all five campuses within the U of M System are eligible to apply whether or not they are members of UMRA.
The Regents’ Special Committee on Academic Health is seeking feedback from the University community on a draft of the Health Sciences Strategic Plan drawn up by the deans of the University’s six health sciences schools and colleges.
The UMRA membership year runs from July 1 to June 30, and now there is a new and easy way to see whether you have already renewed for 2025. Look to the right of your name in the address field on page 12 of the September 2024 print newsletter you received, and you will see a four-digit year. If it says “2025,” it means you have renewed.
So, you have set up a new email account; set up your recovery emails and phone numbers for this new account (!!); moved your emails, contacts, and documents from Google Drive to the new account; notified all your friends and business associates. Now what??
Did you check all of your online accounts? Any that use the old UMN account will need changes -- you may need to change the login, or the contact info, or both -- to the new email address. This article lists other details to consider.
For those of us who have not yet taken the leap to abandon our umn.edu email and Google Workspace accounts before the December 7 deadline, there are three basic things we need to do to get going.
UMRA member Susan Kubitschek attended the University of Minnesota on the G.I. Bill and, after working at the U for 40 years, retired as assistant dean and director of Collegiate Life in the College of Science and Engineering.
Delegates to the Big Ten Retirees Association 2024 annual conference met at The Ohio State University in July to learn about Ohio State, share ideas, and develop closer ties among the 28 attendees from 12 of the 14 Big Ten schools. Minnesota will host the conference in 2026.
“UMRA members are engaged ‘University citizens’ with decades of experience at every level of this great institution, and we want to have a mutually useful and effective relationship with the Board of Regents,” says John Finnegan, UMRA’s new liaison to the regents.
UMRA member Mike Austin is taking full advantage of his retirement to volunteer in a variety of activities, travel, and learn a new language. He says, “I have the time, I have the ability, and I get bored sitting around.”
Members of UMRA’s 2024–25 Board of Directors were elected in May. Directors are elected to three-year terms and may serve two consecutive terms.
Funding of up to $5,000 per grant is available to support U of M retirees’ research, instructional history, new scholarship, or creative interests.