The real lives of Olympians: in the lead up to the Paris Olympics, we will be talking to former Olympian medallists about how they keep fit now – from ageing and retiring to what they eat and how much they exercise. Meet the seventh in our series, Duncan Goodhew.
Goodhew won gold in the 100m breaststroke and a bronze in the 4 x100m medley relay at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. Since then the 67-year-old has focused on getting more people swimming, notably as president of Swimathon. Married with two grown-up children, he divides his time between London and Alderney.
How fit are you?
Do I feel fit? I feel great!
What motivates you to stay fit?
The knowledge I have about my body. I know from all the chemicals and hormones released during exercise, that I’m going to be a better person. I’m going to produce more, do more and be more in my life.
You have a massive gain of productivity later in life if you do the right things. Of course, though, there’s no guarantee of anything.
Do you still swim?
I swim most days. A good day is a one-swim day. A great day is a two-swim day.
I rotate between wild swimming and pool swimming. It’s chalk and cheese. There are studies showing how a habitual swimmer is 4 per cent happier than those who don’t swim, and an open water swimmer 8 per cent more.
A hot shower after a winter swim in the Serpentine is one of man’s greatest achievements.
How often do you exercise?
In my midlife I realised I was doing too much gym work. So now I have a set of core exercises that I’ve adopted that work on stretching and strengthening the centre of my body and my hips. I also do tai chi.
The other thing I do is dance. I crank up the music and hope that nobody is looking through the window because it does look a bit manic. My grandmother used to do high kicks to the Jesus Christ Superstar and she lived to 104. She was cycling until she was 86.
How much did you train as an athlete?
Back in my day we over-trained and people used to go into heart fatigue. On my way to the Olympics in Moscow in 1980 I was training 27 hours a week. A good few hours in the gym and a few hours in the water.
Now when athletes get tired they rest and each time they rest they get fitter.
How did you fuel while training?
Diets were very different back then. When I was in America doing full-time academia and training I had to keep weight on and I had to eat because I was burning calories.
Swimming probably burns more calories than anything as you can do it for longer because you’re lying down. So your body doesn’t get the normal burn where it has to stop.
What role did sport psychology play?
I had a lot of trouble winning. It’s one minute every four years and someone else pips the minute. I realised what an absurd thing it was and I grew to have quite developed physical intelligence.
The philosophy I had when I was training was that I couldn’t afford a bad hour because I can’t afford a bad minute. Every hour I trained had to be the best. I used to visualise, conceptualise and emotionalise what it would be like winning. It was incredible what happened when I changed that attitude.
Are you competitive?
I am selectively competitive. You select the things that it’s worth being competitive about. That’s something I feel that people who are competitive have a real struggle with.
How did you mentally adjust to leaving elite sport?
My career ended with the gold medal in Moscow. I was 23 years old and there was no reason to go on. I was lucky to have a great coach who said: “Do yourself a favour and go and do something else.” The challenge for me was a lack of routine. Plus the realisation of how phenomenally controlled I had been. Before I would look about 16 times before I crossed the road because I didn’t want to get injured. I had to adapt to not being so controlling about everything.
What are your health habits?
There are several things I’ve done for quite a long time.
I take two glasses of water before I get up. When you sleep you don’t drink anything for many hours. And particularly as you get older your bones and your vertebrae are shrinking and they need rehydrating.
The other thing I tend to do a few times a week is just lie in bed in a stretch position. I also brush my teeth standing on one leg.
Do you take supplements?
Vitamin D and glucosamine are things I do. And B12 I do a little bit. I don’t know if it does any good.
Are you happy with your weight?
I started restricting carbs and the time of day I ate them when I started to gain weight a few years ago. Now though, as I’ve got older the weight is not a problem. If anything I need to put on weight and so I have to eat a bit more.
What is your diet like?
I come from a catering family so food is really important to me. I eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and I don’t eat as much red meat as I used to because my Achilles heel is my milk products. I just love them all.
Do you drink?
I drink less alcohol now than I used to. Generally, the world doesn’t have a healthy attitude to alcohol. You have one glass and it affects your performance the next day. Alcohol though is part of getting together and celebrating. It’s just something that everyone has to ask, “Where is the sensible level?”
How is your sleep?
Sleep as you get older it becomes more difficult. I don’t need much sleep actually. I like it but I don’t need much. I sleep a bit more in the winter than I do in the summer. What I’m increasingly trying to do is to make sure I get up at the same time. No matter what time I go to bed.
Your top health tip?
Be in the moment. Get up in the morning and before you get out of bed, stretch and say: “It’s another great day.”
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