THE ATHLETE NEXT DOOR
By Steve Kaufman | Photo By James Moses of Bisig Impact Group
‘I needed a reason
to get out of bed’
After losing her husband, Marjorie Vowels found solace – and so much more –
in swimming at her local YMCA.
M ARJO RIE V OW E L S g o e s t o t h e
Southwestern Family YMCA on Fordhaven
Road near Iroqouis Park in Louisville three times
a week for the water aerobics class.
It’s a 50-minute workout, during which she
does maybe 20 jumping jacks in the water, sprints
from one side of the pool to the other and works
10 EXTOL SPORTS / MAY 2017
with buoyancy weights that, in the water, are the
equivalent of 60 or 75 pounds.
“I used to do 125-pound weights, but I’ve had
to cut back,” she admits.
In the 20 years she has been attending the Y
class, Vowels, 84, has worked through painful
tendonitis in her knee, lost some weight and says
she’s not as tired as she used to be.
In fact, after finishing her water routine, she
gets on the treadmill for a half-mile walk. (On
the days she doesn’t participate in the water
classes, she walks a mile.)
One of the major practical benefits of her
exercise regimen is being able to shop regularly