Ron Yannone is a prolific patent holder and an Engineering Fellow who just began swimming in his 50’s.

This is his story, a remarkable stroke of success.

“When I worked for General Electric in New York in 1976 I was overweight – weighing 225 pounds (102 kg) on a 5 foot 9 inch frame (175 km). I tried jogging, but could not maintain the regimen in cold weather. I did not go to a gym at the time. I tried tennis, but in 1986 I attended the Seventh Day Adventist Bible Seminar. When they spoke of man’s first diet being vegetarian, I dropped down to 175 pounds (79 km).”

For 16 years, Yannone could not drop below 175 pounds. “It seemed no matter what I did diet-wise, I could not lose any more weight than 175 pounds. I simply gave up after about a year trying different things…even walking. Years went by. My mom weighed 300 pounds (136 kg) most of her life and was told by her doctor that she needed to lose 100 pounds. She began to walk and I walk a little with her. She got red-as-a-beet often and cried often at what seemed like a hopeless journey. But she decided to join the YMCA. She was able to float well in the pool and began to swim. Weekly she would try to get me to join the YMCA. I became a YMCA member in 1993.

I saw the pool below the workout room and was enticed. I could not swim half the length of the 75-foot pool to save my life. Seeing the serious swimmers go-at-it, I decided to try to build up. In 2 months I was up to 1-mile swims in 50 minutes once a week. I had to use a plastic mask that covered my nose as I could not tolerate water touching and going into my nose. I had to alternate the crawl stroke and backstroke as I did not have the stamina at all to do the crawl that long. I loved the feel of the water and the low impact on the joints.

My swimming increased to a couple days a week and, eventually to 1-mile swims three days a week. In 2007, I had 5 breaks in 4 toes, but I asked the doctor if I could swim by letting my legs drag behind me. I could feel the tingles in my foot ─ especially the toes. I was careful not to push off the sides with my feet and my pace was slower. I began doing a couple laps crawl and then backstoke for relief in strength and breathing.”

Subsequently he moved and found a pool that opened 4:45 am. “With the added 45 minutes, I decided to increase my swims to 2 miles that took 90 minutes. Since about November 2011, my speed for the mile shorted to 30 minutes a mile. At 58 years, I have never seen any older men or women do more than 1 mile swims at this age and am [now] 152 pounds (68 kg). [Together with my wife], we did blood work for insurance and I was labeled me a super preferred applicant with a resting heart rate between 46-52 beats per minutes.

Working out is a real blessing and I pray I will be able to continue the regimen. Incidentally, my mom’s weight went down to 190 pounds. She passed away at age 88, but the YMCA enriched her life immensely.”

As it has with Yannone.

Copyright © 2012 by Open Water Source