Glade resident nabs Olympic silver
For The Vista
Local Fairfield Glade resident, Ted Telle, recently competed in the 2017 Tennessee Senior Olympics held in Nashville, TN on June 27-28.
Tellee entered the 50 and 100 yard freestyle in swimming in the 65-69 year old age group. In the 50 free, he earned 2nd place and his Silver Medal with a time of 33:20 seconds.
Again, in the 100 free, he came in 2nd place and got his Silver Medal with a time of 1:13:50 seconds.
“While there, I met some new friends from different age groups up to 88 years old,” Telle said. “Some had been participating for many years.”
Telle said a Glade instructor gave him the push he needed to take part in the Olympics.
“I was encouraged to participate in the Olympics from a Wellness Center Water Aerobics Instructor named Nancy, after she saw me swimming one day. So, I started prepping for the Olympics in January and worked out at the Cumberland Medical Center Wellness Complex in Fairfield Glade about 5-6 days/ per week,” Telle noted.
Telle’s workouts lasted about 30 minutes with a combination of kicking and swimming laps in the lap lane. Usually, he swam early in the morning staring at 7 A.M.
“This was a wonderful yet somewhat scary experience,” he said. “The last time I had a competitive race was 43 years ago while in college at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, VA. Lots of butterflies.”
Glade residents can wish Telle the best as he takes part in the Cumberland County trials for next year (2018) to be held in late September or October.
For more information on the Tennessee Senior Olympics, check out their website at: www.tnseniorolympics.com.