Michelle Martin, a massage therapist in Decatur, was recently named Sportsperson of the Year by the Atlanta Gay Sports Alliance for her contributions in and out of the pool. (Photo by Matt Hennie)
No stopping this top jock Lesbian swimmer starts at 50 and continues breaking records
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DEPRESSED AFTER THE death of a beloved pet, Michelle Martin trudged through her regular runs around her Decatur neighborhood. She started running four years earlier after deciding to pick up the pace of her daily walks.
But a friend, seeing that Martin was experiencing a tough time after her cat was killed by a passing motorist, suggested she join him at an upcoming practice of the Atlanta Rainbow Trout. Martin’s friend knew she occasionally splashed around a pool, but hadn’t taken up swimming in the same way she pursued running. When he sweetened the offer by paying Martin’s quarterly Trout dues, she relented and joined him.
That was 2000 and Martin, who was 50 at the time, hasn’t looked back. She entered her first international swimming competition two years later and now holds a handful of records from International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics, the global organizing body for gay swimming, including taking five gold medals during the IGLA championships last summer in Paris.
“As soon as I got into the pool, I just fell in love with the way it feels to swim,” Martin said. “You just get this feeling, almost like a runner’s high. You are totally focused and are just one with the water. Your body just feels good.”
MARTIN NOW HAS another accolade to add to her long list of swimming accomplishments, which include ranking in the Top 10 of the U.S. Masters’ Swimming Dixie Zone for 19 events in her age group (55-59), three individual IGLA records and serving as the Trout’s swim director. The Atlanta Gay Sports Alliance recently named Martin its Sportsperson of the Year. The inaugural award was unveiled during AGSA’s two-hour meet-and-greet on Jan. 27.
“I keep setting goals, that’s how I do it. I just keep thinking up new ones,” Martin said. “I started coming back and the first year, I was in lane one with the slower swimmers. There was a 70-year-old woman and she kicked my ass. That’s how slow I was.”
Martin, who has competed in every IGLA championship since her first one in Toronto in 2002, now has her sights set on the IGLA event this June in Washington, D.C. It’s the last year in her current age group, so Martin wants to go out in style by pursuing medals in five events, the most allowed at the competition. She wants to add two backstroke events to her usual repertoire of fly and individual medley competitions.
BUT BEFORE THAT, Martin will take part in the ING Georgia Marathon and Half Marathon on March 30 by completing her first half marathon, a 13.1-mile run that more than doubles her usual races of 10K, or 6.2 miles. Preparing for both means a grueling training schedule that includes about 15 miles of running each week, six miles of swimming and weight training.
“I see some of the older people at the swim meets. They need help getting on the blocks, but they swim like banshees in the water and set a national record. They are crazy. You’d never guess how old they are if you didn’t look in the program,” she said.
Martin turns 59 in May and has no intention of slowing down anytime soon.
“The running helps the swimming and the swimming helps the running because it strengthens your muscles. The swimming helps to lengthen those muscles and it loosens the body,” Martin said.
Martin, a massage therapist for 23 years, understands the therapeutic benefits of swimming, too. Before she joined the Trout, she was beginning to suffer from wrist problems, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and cranky joints related to her massage therapy practice.
“It all went away when I started swimming. It works out well because swimming is a lot of pulling and massage therapy is a lot of pushing. Swimming is the fountain of youth,” she said.
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