Bob Ulanowicz swims 800 yards six days a week at the Dwight H. Hunter Pool in Gainesville. He recently turned 81.
Ulanowicz is getting ready for the upcoming Gainesville Senior Games, a series of athletic competitions that start Friday and end Oct. 6.
This year marks the 23rd anniversary of the games, which will feature swimming, pickleball, pétanque, table tennis and other sports. The Gainesville Sports Commission, a nonprofit organization that promotes tourism through sports, hosts the games, which attract hundreds of participating seniors aged 50 and up.
“It’s just fun,” Ulanowicz said. His interest in the games grew in 2012. “I was told that you come — it doesn’t matter if you don't have an illustrious past. It’s a very democratic thing. People are very encouraging; even the better swimmers will encourage you. And I came, and they were right. And I really enjoyed it.”
Ulanowicz did not start swimming until he was 11 years old, but it has been hard to keep him out of the water since then.
The director of the games, Emily Grissom, said she believes that they are an opportunity for seniors to stay active and be social.
“We see a lot of new people that join, too, and they're like, ‘I haven't ran track in years, but I wanted to do it to just have fun,’” Grissom said.
For many participants, the outcome of the matches is not as significant as in other competitions.
“It’s less a competition but more so a check on your own progress,” Ulanowicz said. He does not receive any professional coaching, but seeing how his time changes each year allows him to gauge how far he has come.
Archery, another competitive sport in the games, draws in husband-and-wife archers Jerry and Patty Hoppe.
The Hoppes have lived in Ocala for five years, so making it to Gainesville for the games is a short drive for them.
Their calendar is booked solid with archery tournaments that take them from coast to coast.
“Archery has been a part of our lives pretty much all of our lives,” said Patty Hoppe, 71.
Practicing archery is something that they enjoy together. Jerry Hoppe said his passion for archery began when he needed something to do when he wasn’t at his construction job. Then, Patty joined him.
“We’ll shoot until we can’t,” said Jerry Hoppe, 68.
When asked who shoots better, Jerry Hoppe immediately pointed to Patty Hoppe.
“She’s very accomplished,” said Jerry Hoppe, as his wife quipped: “For a 71-year-old gal.”
Kevin Rainsberger, 69, had hip replacement surgery less than three months ago, but that could not keep him away from his love of pickleball.
“I’m really looking forward to this year’s games because I’m getting a lot of my mobility back. I still have a lot of weakness in my right leg, but I’ll hit a shot and say, ‘I couldn’t have gotten that shot before the surgery,’” Rainsberger said.
He said he plays pickleball about four times a week and even built a pickleball court on his driveway.
This year, Rainsberger is looking to defend his gold medal, which he won in last year’s men's doubles tournament in the 65-to-69 age group.
His involvement in the sport stemmed from his time working as part of Walt Disney World’s Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, where he said he took part in inventing a game similar to pickleball called “moatball.”
Rainsberger will also be competing in the Gainesville Senior Games’ golf tournament at Ironwood Golf Course. He has not played golf since last year’s senior games, but he was a club pro at Ironwood for a short stint in the 1980s.
The Gainesville Senior Games keeps seniors active and a part of their community. Other sports that spectators can expect to see in the games are track and field, cycling and, for the first time, volleyball.