THUNDER BAY – Shaun Naroski’s path to competing at national swimming events dates back to 1972.
As an original member of the Thunder Bay Thunderbolts at the age of 10, Naroski swam competitively in his youth before stepping away from the sport.
Naroski jumped back into the pool in his mid-40s and is a longtime member of the Thunder Bay Thunder Rays masters swim club. He has competed in the provincial and national masters swimming championships over the last decade.
“Having a young family and spending time raising them with my wife sort of took me away from competitive swimming, but as they got older, it gave me time to get back into things that I loved to do, such as swimming, running and skiing,” Naroski said.
“I’m so glad that I did that, not just for keeping up the fitness level, but for my mental health. It’s something that I enjoy doing competitively and recreationally.”
The 62-year-old represented Thunder Bay at the national masters championship in Windsor last month.
He won a pair of silver medals in the 200-metre individual medley and the 200m butterfly racers.
“For me, the 200m butterfly is probably the most taxing race, especially that’s usually back-to-back with another race on the final day of the meet,” Naroski said.
“I can seem to get through a race like the 400m (individual) medley with something left in the tank, but I pretty much leave everything in the pool in that 200 race.”
Over the last decade, Naroski has brought home several provincial and national medals.
However, his main goal during the meets is to test himself and stay active.
“I would like to do this for as long as I’m able to,” Naroski said.
“You get to these meets and you see people that are 95 years old and they are breaking world records. You watch them go and you think, ‘I would really love to be that age and still have the ability to swim.’
“I will do this for as long as my body allows me to do it.”
Another highlight for Naroski at the championships is getting the chance to run into some familiar faces.
“We’ll talk to each other to ask how we’re doing and how the training went,” Naroski said.
“When you get to our age though, the biggest questions end up being are you healthy and are you swimming without an injury? Injuries don’t go away really quick at my age.”
Naroski is hoping to see more local swimmers taking part in the big meets alongside him.
In 2019, the Thunder Rays sent 25 swimmers to Markham and won the provincial team banner.
However, the competitive numbers have gone down since. Only three swimmers went in 2023 and no one took part in the provincials in May, which Naroski was unable to participate in.
“I don’t know if it is due to COVID or what but we’re hoping to get to change that,” Naroski said.
“There’s a lot of the same swimmers that I see at these major meets, but there’s starting to be a new group coming in, including some international swimmers.
“We got around 65 masters swimmers on the Thunder Rays, so we’re hoping to reinvigorate that competitive group and I’d like to help with that in whatever way I can.”
