"When I swim, I feel so happy, it's the most relaxing feeling just gliding in the water."
That's what my 99-year-old daughter Brussels said after she broke the world record for her age group.
But the new world record holder was not always a swimmer.
Brussels, who grew up in the Netherlands, is the eldest of 12 children.
During the years of World War II, she was unable to continue activities such as swimming, skating and gymnastics, and spent her time taking care of her younger brothers.
Her parents took her out of school at the age of 14, and the family lived without electricity for more than three years.
"It was quite a challenge during the war," she said.
Brussels immigrated to Canada with her husband in 1959. In addition to raising their three children, now aged 70, 72 and 74, she cleaned houses for a living and later became a seamstress.
Betty Brussels.
"When I swim, I feel so happy,"
In 1982 she retired, and in her new free time she gradually entered the world of competitive swimming.
She participated in her first competition in 1991.
"I swam breaststroke and I didn't even do it right," she recalled.
"I started from the ground up."
Brussels only started swimming competitively in her mid-sixties.
Since then she has won hundreds of medals - and just this week, at the age of 99, she broke three world records in her age group.
Last weekend she broke the world record for her age group in the 400 meter freestyle - she swam it in 12 minutes and 50 seconds - and beat the previous record holder by almost four minutes ahead of her.
Brussels competes in the 100 to 104 age category, as classification is determined by year of birth.
She also set a record in the 50-meter breaststroke, which she did in 1 minute and 52 seconds, and in the 50-meter backstroke, which took her 1 minute and 24 seconds.
"I felt so good," said the swimmer.
For more than 30 years, Brussels has competed in dozens of competitions in Canada and elsewhere, driving herself to swim practice, about 20 minutes from her apartment, twice a week and enjoying the thrill of competition.
"The pool is my happy place," she said.
Canadian swimmer Betty Brussel, 99, sets new age-category world records https://t.co/IEY7GXepKm pic.twitter.com/YEIXJLotBt
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) January 24, 2024
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