Record-breaking swimmer Graham Johnston, 76, discusses his old-fashioned training regimen
In an age when most coaches preach the newfangled cross-training gospel, Masters swimmer Graham Johnston is old school. He trains for swimming one way: by swimming. He doesn't run or bike. Only occasionally will he lift weights, because he's worried about the reliability of his aging joints. "If it's early in the season," he said, "I will do some exercises with light weights, maybe some curls. But not much at all."
Certainly, the old fashioned workout is working for Johnston, a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. At press time, his straightforward training approach had helped him set 81 age-group world records in his career. He trailed only the tally of Connecticut swimmer Gus Langner, who set 82 world records before he died two years ago at the age of 91.
Johnston began swimming at age 2 in his native South Africa. He represented South Africa in the 1952 Olympics. After that Olympic summer, he accepted a swimming scholarship to the University of Oklahoma. He was an NCAA All-American three years in a row, and caught the eye of his future wife, Janis. Together, they had five children and eventually settled in Houston.
After a 17-year hiatus from competitive swimming, Johnston, then 41, competed in his first Masters swimming meet. "He went and took five gold medals at that meet," recalled Janis Johnston. "But what really impressed him wasn't the medals, it was that he was just a few seconds off of each of the national records, and he said, 'I think I could do this.' "
Johnston began shattering Masters records in the pool and added open-water competition to his repertoire. Among his open water triumphs was becoming the oldest and swiftest man -- at the time -- to complete a 7-kilometer ocean swim from Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, to the coast of Capetown, South Africa.
"The one I did in South Africa is the most accomplished, because the water was 51 degrees and home to the Great White," said Johnston, who finished the swim in 2 hours and 4 minutes. Johnston attributes his success to clean living -- no alcohol, smoking and very little meat -- and his rigorous training schedule.
"I think the only way to swim faster is to work hard," explained Johnston. "Most coaches say you should rest between hard workouts, but I do an intense workout every day and as a matter of fact, right now, I'm doing two workouts a day." Johnston spends 90 to 180 minutes a day in the pool, five days a week. Training with a team of younger swimmers who call him "the old fossil" helps to keep him motivated. "I probably work harder than any man over 60 in the water now," he said.
He always has a new goal. "I'd like to try to swim the English Channel again," admitted Johnston, who attempted the 35-kilometer swim through the Dover Straits in 1977, but didn't finish. "I hit the English Channel and the water was 51 degrees --I went about 14 miles and I went unconscious." Johnston thinks he might have a better shot now, because "thanks to global warming, the temperature's up to about 62 degrees."
Typically, Johnston focuses on freestyle in his workouts, but because he is aiming for world records in a few individual medley races, he is also working on breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly. Here's his workout as he was preparing for U.S. Masters Swimming's long-course nationals:
Monday Johnston arrives at the Dad's Club, a 50-meter Houston swimming pool where he has trained for the past 35 years, at 11:30 a.m. He does a 400-meter freestyle warm-up, followed by a 500-meter set of kicking. He finishes up with 20 50-meter sets of freestyle, resting 10 seconds between each set. The workout lasts 90 minutes.
Tuesday Johnston drives the 12 miles from home to the Dad's Club arriving at 6:30 a.m. for a medley workout. He starts with a freestyle warm-up. He alternates between breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly for a total of 2,000 meters, concentrating more heavily on butterfly, which is his weakest stroke. He goes home for lunch and a nap. Butterfly takes a lot out of him. "I'm really having a problem with it," he said. At 6 p.m Johnston heads back to the pool for his second workout of the day. He does 10 freestyle sets of 100 meters each, resting 10 seconds between each set.
Wednesday Johnston arrives at the pool at 11:30 for a 400-meter freestyle warm-up and 500-meter kicking set. He finishes with five 200-meter freestyle sets, resting 10 seconds between each set.
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