It’s my happy privilege to publish this guest post from one of the earliest TI enthusiasts, Bill Holman, on the occasion of his 85th birthday. I  met Bill in January 1993 at our first venture outside the US, a weeklong camp in Costa Rica. Bill’s familiarity with Spanish was most valuable to the rest of us anglos. I was delighted to hear from Bill recently and asked if he’d bring us up to date. 

Happy Birthday, Bill!

I was a sickly child, all the common illnesses, plus rheumatic fever at age six, which left me with a life-long heart murmur. I was supposed to die from the effects of that disease at about age 40, as Bobby Darrin did.

I was kept on a close leash, prohibited from doing anything that might strain my heart. However, at about age 10, I managed to sneak away to a public park pool, and learn my version of swimming. I think I even kept my head sort of in the water.

Jump ahead about 10 years, I’m in college and take a swimming class. I found I enjoyed the peace and solitude of swimming. And no one asked why I was no good at baseball, basketball, etc.

Skip  forward another 40 years, I have joined a YMCA,with a 25-meter lap pool. I swam a lot of laps for several years. One day a swimming friend said, “Bill, you’re a good swimmer, you should enter the Oregon State Games.”

I was 63 years old and had never before competed in anything. But I entered and won a  medal, and was hooked on swimming.

I saw an ad for a Total Immersion swim camp in Costa Rica, and signed up. Terry , Alice their staff and all the students were wonderful to the old guy. By then I was in my 60s. I learned how to swim the TI way, liked how it felt, had  a wonderful time, made new friends, and really improved my swimming.

I also improved my  Spanish, since I was the only one of the group who spoke it.

Over the years I’ve continued improving my swimming and Spanish. I attended two more TI classes–in Portland and Seattle. I swam for many years in the State  Games, qualified for Senior Olympics four times, swam in two international events, and was named Male Athlete of the Year for the State Games for the year 2000.

I’m now a permanent resident of Mexico, living in Puerto Escondido, in Oaxaca State. At 85,  I still swim 36 laps every day.

Bill Holman--looking fit from daily swimming--daughter Susanne, and son Michael

Bill Holman–looking fit from daily swimming–daughter Susanne, and son Michael