Annabel Hofer's water world / 6,000 miles down and who knows how many left to swim to Roy woman
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Sam Cooper
Standard-Examiner staff
ROY -- To the gleeful howls of the two dozen other swimmers Thursday morning at the Roy Aquatic Center, 67-year-old Annabel Hofer swam down the home stretch, reached out and -- with a wide smile -- touched the cement deck.
Since 1982, the self-proclaimed water baby has been getting up before the crack of dawn to swim laps -- lots of laps.
Thursday marked a huge accomplishment for the former teacher and great-grandmother of 10: her 6,000th mile since she started keeping track.
She has now done enough laps to have swum to Honolulu and back.
How does it feel?
"Special," Hofer said at6 a.m. Thursday as she caught her breath.
She started swimming when she was 30 and struggling with arthritis and a weight problem. The doctor told her swimming is easy on the joints and a great aerobic activity, so she tried it.
"He said, 'You already have the joints of an 80- or 90-year-old,' " she said.
Swimming helped her lose 70 pounds, she said. "Then it just got to be a habit."
Hofer swims 45 laps a day, five days a week, switching strokes every nine laps to help her keep track.
She said swimming helps ease stress and just makes her feel good, though she admits it hasn't always been easy.
"It's always tough to get up in the morning, especially when there's 5 to 6 inches of snow on the ground."
Regardless, she can't remember a day she's missed, except when her alarm clock didn't sound because the power had gone out.
Friends at the pool said she'd even swum on mornings before she was scheduled for surgery. Then, Hofer said, she'd wait about a week before returning to the pool.
"I was good girl -- I waited until the doctor told me I could come back," she said. "When I had all my surgeries, I only did a mile until I got back into shape.
"This last 50 (miles) took me a long time. I had a knee replacement, a rotator cuff, then I had a tendon put back in my thumb, and then I had major back surgery last April."
Her dedication has impressed fellow swimmers.
"Regardless of how she felt, she's been here," Jean Kempinger said. "This is her lane, and everybody better not take it."
Hofer said she's set a new goal for herself: 7,000 miles by the time she turns 70.
She's up for the challenge.
"I just saw the doctor yesterday, and he gave me a clean bill of health. He said, 'Keep swimming.' "
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