At 100 Years of Age, a Strong, Social, Swim Champion: Charlotte Sanddal, Episode 166

Show Notes

Does 100 years of age sound too old to start everyday with a dozen full push-ups? Or too old to be a swim champion, swimming 5 days a week, driving yourself, playing bridge weekly? How about traveling to Japan from the US? Attending a podcast interview recorded on Zoom? Too old for that? Or too old to be using an iphone? Well, if you said yes to any of these, you’d would be wrong.

In today’s episode, we speak to a true inspiration, Charlotte Sanddal, who turns 100 years old in August of 2022. Charlotte recently made news when she finished a 500-yard freestyle at the US Masters Spring Nationals while doing all flip turns, something many younger swimmers cannot even do. Charlotte entered the sport of swimming at age 72 as a member of the Montana Masters Team and this year alone has won nine gold medals from two national meets, has over 400 Master races under her belt, and holds multiple national and world swimming records.

Wish Happy 100th Birthday to Charlotte at her GoFundMe Page.

In today’s conversation, we find out Charlotte’s secret to success and how she stays so fit and healthy. We start our conversation by learning more about her, the role swimming plays in her life, and why she first decided to start swimming later in life. We also talk about her mental approach to overcoming challenges, the importance of continually learning, how to live a long and healthy life, the role of friends and family in her life, and why morning push-ups are so important! Don’t miss out on a conversation with true inspiration and champion, Charlotte Sanddal!

Key Points From This Episode:

We start our conversation by finding out how swimming helps her stay healthy.
A rundown of her previous swimming experience before entering the sport.
Reasons behind her decision to start swimming at the age of 72.
We learn what Charlotte’s secret to staying fit and healthy is and how she starts her day.
How she has been finding learning butterfly and why having a coach is so important.
The age when Charlotte decided to master the butterfly stroke.
Her perception of age and what getting older means to her.
The best part about living a long and happy life.
What she regards as the biggest challenges that she has had to face.
The role and inspiration that her mother played in her life.
An outline of the different milestones in her life and what she aims to achieve in the future.
Background about her professional career as a social worker.
Lifestyle choices that have helped Charlotte to stay fit and live long.
How her diet has been throughout her life and the vitamin supplements she takes.
We get the insider scoop about what’s in her morning smoothy.
A brief breakdown of her swimming and exercise routines.
Other routines or rituals that Charlotte has for keeping healthy and fit.
Charlotte explains her mental approach to overcoming challenges in swimming and life.
We find out about her swimming community and what she enjoys about it the most.
Details about her upcoming 100-year-old birthday bash!
Charlotte tells us what her swimming goals for the future are.
Aspects other than family, friends, and swimming that are important to her.
Commonalities and traits that champions share in her opinion.
What she regards as the biggest obstacle in her life and how she overcame it.
We find out about her life before swimming.
The biggest challenge as a 99-year-old: getting up in the morning.
Advice that Charlotte