MEET THE UNSYNCABLES
Sue, Ellen, Cris, Luther, Monica and Joyce have pushed through emotional and physical boundaries to pursue their sport. Collectively, they have lost partners, suffered injuries and contended with ageist assumptions about what they can do. But through it all, they keep swimming and do it with a smile. These active senior athletes are a testament to perseverance, the resilience of the human spirit, and our endless capacity for growth at any age.
World Champion Sue Nesbitt (68) is a synchro legend. She dominated the sport as an elite athlete in the 1970s, and she's doing it again as a master. Sue has always pushed her body to the brink in her quest for perfection, but the older she gets, the more challenging it becomes. For now, Sue keeps moving forward, looking for new personal bests.
Striding onto the pool deck in a bright red one-piece, snapping her fingers at the crowd before the music starts, Ellen Scott (63) proudly smashes every stereotype of an artistic swimmer. You'd never guess she battles chronic pain and mental health issues. Ellen came to synchro in her fifties and credits it for giving her life back. She plans on becoming a masters champion in her eighties - when there's 'less of us around.'
As a speed swimmer, Cris Meier-Windes was a founding member of the San Francisco Tsunami, a groundbreaking all–gay swim team founded in 1986. Now, at 68, he swims on the Tsunami synchro team, pushing the gendered limits of the sport every chance he gets.
Luther Gales (82) is a retired Marine, a former member of the NYC Housing Police and now an assistant synchronized swimming coach for the Harlem Honeys & Bears, America's oldest all-black synchro team. Luther also teaches young people to swim; his goal is to help them stay safe in the water and break the 'blacks don't swim' stereotype he grew up with.
At 62, Joyce Clarke decided she needed to learn to swim before going to Heaven. Confronting a life-threatening illness, she overcame her fear of the water and signed up for the Harlem Honeys & Bears. She learned to swim, found a community and discovered peace in the pool. Today Joyce is 71 years old, healthy and still swimming with the Harlem Honeys & Bears.
Monica Hale (68) is the outspoken team captain of the Harlem Honeys & Bears. Unlike many African Americans her age, Monica has been swimming her whole life. She excelled in the water despite not being allowed in the pool with the white kids as a kid. As team captain of the Harlem Honeys & Bears, Monica's duties include mentoring new members. While Monica doesn't share their trepidation about getting into the water, she does understand what it is like to be an adult trying something for the first time.