His regimen: Retired Stelco worker Raymond Braun, 77, of Hamilton, Ont. swims four to five times a week at municipal pools in Dundas and Ancaster, averaging 35 lengths per swim. He also walks and dances.
Proudest moment: Winning gold and silver at the Ontario Senior Games in May for District 22, covering Ancaster, Dundas, Winona, Stoney Creek and Flamborough. Braun won gold for predicting he could swim 100 metres in 200 seconds. He finished in 204 seconds and won because his prediction was closest to his actual time. He earned silver for finishing a 25-metre sprint in 30 seconds.
His story: Canadian-born Braun moved back to Europe with his family during the Great Depression because his father couldn't find work here. His childhood was spent in Austria and later East Germany, where he swam every day.
"East German schools under the Communist system gave high priority in all sports and that included swimming, which was part of the daily curriculum," says Braun. "The emphasis was on sport. You had to be fit."
He returned to Canada at age 20, landing work at Stelco. In the summer of 1990, he decided to celebrate 40 years at Stelco by swimming from LaSalle Park across the bay to Stelco -- but that wasn't possible.
"The harbour police told me they would fish me out of the bay and charge me," Braun said in a Hamilton Spectator article in July 1990. He decided to walk around the bay instead. The 31-kilometre trek took him six hours.
His lifestyle: Braun walked two to three hours a day until a knee replacement four years ago forced him to cut back to 60 to 90 minutes a day. He married for the first time at age 61 to an English-born widow named Heather. The couple enjoys dancing -- especially waltzes and polkas at area German and Austrian clubs.
His motivation: Braun's excellent fitness level allows him to travel the world. An active lifestyle also helps him keep his weight under control. But there was a time, in 1965, when he let himself go. "I became lazy and I gained 35 to 40 pounds. My doctor said to me that I had to change -- and I did"
