Jordan has a lifelong connection to the water -- and to winning

Betsy Jordan, who has been racking up first place finishes this year, spends most of her time training and competing in swimming pools. Yet once a week, during late spring and summer, the 71-year-old slips into the ocean for a workout, enjoying the sensation of being swallowed up by the vastness of the water. "It gets the gremlins out of your head by reminding you that you're really just a little speck in the universe," she says.

Water has been a big factor in shaping Jordan's life. She began swimming at age 9 and was good enough to compete in the 1952 Olympic trials six years later. She got into Masters swimming later in life and met her second husband, Peter Riddle, also a swimmer, while helping remove the pool tarps for early morning swims on the University of California-San Diego campus.

"He said that anyone who could be cheerful at 6 in the morning was a keeper," she recalls. "I feel the same way about him."

Between Jordan and Riddle, they have six children. Jordan won five events at the 2008 U.S. Masters Swimming Short Course Nationals in May, including the 50-yard, 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke. This year, she has placed first in all but four of the 34 events in which she had competed. Her success has brought nothing but pride to Riddle, who often tells others: "If Betsy's going to be the leader of the pack, somebody's got to be the pack. That's my job."

Jordan, a retired UCSD humanities professor, says swimming has impacted stages of her life differently. When she was younger, Jordan says, competing taught her the importance of time-management as well as how to cope with losses and display humility with wins. Now, swimming -- through the exercise, travel opportunities and camaraderie it provides -- is teaching her how to enjoy old age.