Marathon Men

VIDEO

The Senior Golden Olympics

Senior athletes from William H. Rumsey Aquatic Center in D.C. compete in the 25th Annual Golden Olympics. A look into the competition as narrated by Mrs. Dottie Nielson.

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John still remembers the playgrounds of his childhood, when the city felt more intimate. "We played dodge ball and had little track teams," he says. "We used to skate, the kind you fastened onto your shoes -- Union Hardware skates -- and everybody mostly had a pair. Once we'd find streets that were not cobblestone, like Pennsylvania Avenue, we'd stay on them."

Even as a young boy, he was thrilled to compete. In school, "if you got the highest mark on the test, that would be something," he says. "It would be nice to be the smartest thing in the room. And on the field, it would be nice to be the home-run king or base-stealing king. I would not always be the best in everything, but I would always be trying."

Every summer, they walked barefoot to the segregated swimming pool at Francis Recreation Center, where they'd spend the better part of hot Washington days.

Brad was the more celebrated swimmer, but once, when John was in high school, he went to the center, where Brad was practicing with the junior high team. The brothers raced 50 yards, with Brad's teammates whooping and hollering the whole time. When John won, they teased Brad and ran to tell the coach. John didn't say a word. He hadn't realized he could outswim his brother. The two had never had any sort of rivalry.

Brad tagged along as his big brother delivered papers early in the morning. There were only three D.C. high schools for blacks in those days. John went to the trade school at Armstrong. Brad went to the business school, Cardozo.

They shared clothes until Brad suddenly shot up taller than John. They shared a bed until John left for Virginia State University, where he studied industrial education, in 1936. John continually played organized sports (baseball, softball and football, mostly) throughout his young adulthood. He began swimming again in the mid-1970s, after retiring. The brothers started swimming together with the Water Wizards, the official D.C. 50-and-over swim club, in the mid-1990s, when they were in their 70s. John was the one who started competing locally, usually winning his competitions easily.

"Shucks, I'd always be first," John says. "Somehow [Brad] couldn't catch me." John went to his first National Senior Games in 2003, where he won fourth place in the 50-yard freestyle and sixth in the 100. Then he won two silvers in 2005. Brad first competed in 2005, but missed two events because he was in the stands and didn't hear the announcer. He failed to place in three others. "Really, starting with 2007, that's the first time [Brad] was winning the medals and not me. I won one [third place in the 100-yard freestyle], and he won five."

That year, Brad broke the national senior record for the 50-yard freestyle in the 84 to 89 category by five seconds, with a time of 38.74. And with a time of 1:30.88, he broke the 100-yard freestyle record by three. In February, the city Department of Parks and Recreation honored Brad at its annual Black History Month swim meet. There was a proclamation from the mayor, and the flyer for the D.C. Golden Olympics Games featured a large picture of a smiling Brad on the front.

In the last few years, John has gone from being a consistent winner to an also-ran. It's not that he's not tremendously proud of his brother, because he is. But more and more now, the doubts have started to creep in on him.

When does your body slow down for good?

At the pool, John pulls himself from Lane 5. It is a labor-intensive process. He heaves once -- or twice, if he can't get enough lift -- to rest his belly on the edge of the pool, with his arms locked straight at his sides. He lingers like that for a few seconds, gathering his strength for the second big heave that sits him on the deck. He had hip replacement surgery in 1999 and takes a pill for hypertension, but other than that, he has no serious ailments.

Brad, who takes no medication and has never been seriously ill, is practicing his starts off a block at the front of the lane. He predicts he'll do well at the D.C. games next month. The 84 to 89 age group is light on competitors.