In February 2025 I entered my first masters swimming event and was delighted to earn a couple of Silver medals in the 75+ section (for the 50m and 100m freestyle). But I’d noticed a tremor in my right arm plus a couple of other symptoms and got myself checked out for Parkinson’s just two weeks after the swimming gala. And yes, as I think many of you know, I do have it.
Today, some 18 months after this initial diagnosis, which shouldn’t have shocked me but nonetheless certainly did, all I can say is that the meds have been absolutely fantastic. For now, I am pretty much asymptomatic. I know that I’m extremely lucky. And also that things can change at any moment. But the diagnosis (early, in my case) has not proved to be the doom-laden harbinger I’d feared.
In fact, Parkinson’s right now is low down my list of worries – and my worries are not overwhelming either. Having had to give up tennis, my life-long great sporting love, in my mid-70s, and then running, because of back and knee issues, swimming seemed to fill the gap and provide me with a safe cardio-vascular work-out. Safe – I wish! It seems I was over-enthusiastic with my swimming training, and a few months ago I tore my rotator cuff. So now it’s rehab all the way. Most weeks my schedule consists of Nordic Walking (loving it, especially the company of my new Nordic Walking buddies), pool exercises (ugh, boring), Tai Chi (loving this too), Pilates (somewhat gingerly with my back) and specific rehab work with my personal trainer (fun because he chats to me all the time so I forget about the tedious exercises).
All this to say that ‘body maintenance’ has expanded to dominate, if not fill, my week. It used to be something I’d fill in between my other activities. Not anymore. Other activities have to slot in around the body stuff. Talking with friends my age, 77 this year, 2026, it seems I’m not alone.
So I’ve taken a step back from active photography: my camera and the big lenses I use are just too heavy now for me to cart around and travelling in itself no longer holds the thrills it used to. I have literally thousands of photographs on file and I still love publicising, talking and writing about the wonderful world of masters sport and the remarkable athletes I’ve met and photographed. I’m just changing the balance of how I spend my time. From now on – around the body maintenance of course – it’s going to be primarily on this talking and writing rather than taking more photos.
New chapters are exciting even if they do demand saying a sad goodbye to the old one. I shall certainly miss the thrill of being track-side with my camera. But I’ve signed up for a creative writing course this autumn, one that’s memoir-based rather than fictional. And I’m looking forward to finding new ways of writing about the world of older competitive athletes that’s been my focus over the last 16+ years. Wish me luck – and I’ll keep you posted!
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