Breaking records at 95 and loving life - with the inspirational Jane Asher BEM

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What does a life fully lived in the water look like? For Jane Asher, it looks like five world records broken in a single weekend, at the age of 95. A South London swimming legend and great-grandmother, Jane didn't even begin her competitive career until she was 55. Since then, she has become one of Masters swimming's most remarkable figures, currently holding world records in the 95–99 age group across the 50m, 100m, 200m, individual medley, and 50m backstroke.

In this conversation, Salim sits down with Jane to trace the extraordinary arc of her life, from clandestine boarding school pool sessions in 1940s Johannesburg and witnessing apartheid at close quarters, to coaching the next generation and returning to competition in her late 50s. Jane reflects on the joy that has kept her in the water for over eight decades, the friendships swimming has given her across the world, and why she still does tumble turns.

What's in this episode

Growing up on Zambia's Copperbelt and swimming at a Johannesburg boarding school in the 1940s
How apartheid shaped and troubled Jane's early life, and the moment swimming offered something different
Teaching herself to swim competitively at 40, then discovering the Masters swimming world
Building clubs and communities, from Jane's Extra Training sessions to the King's Cormorants in Wimbledon
Breaking five World Records at the recent Guernsey Masters meet
The meditative quality of swimming and why counting strokes keeps her present
Her advice to anyone over 60 thinking about getting in the water for the first time
Why Jane still gets up for a 9am swim three times a week.

Useful Links

Swimming & Open Water

Shepperton Lake - open-water venue mentioned in the episode
Hampton Pool
Kings Cormorants Masters Swimming Club - Jane's local swimming club
East Anglian Swallow Tails - the club Jane set up with her friends Seymour Banning and Carol Buykx
Kingfishers Swimming Club - set up by Jane in Norwich
Swim England Masters - the national body for adult competitive swimming in England
Outdoor Swimmer Magazine

Swim with Salim