40 | DECEMBER 17 • 2020
J
im Berk and Jeff Ellis have won mul-
tiple medals at the Michigan Senior
Olympics, but they didn’t add to their
totals this year because of the COVID-19
pandemic.
In-person swimming and powerlifting
events weren’t held, and Berk and Ellis
didn’t want to compete in the virtual ver-
sions.
“The virtual swimming competition
didn’t appeal to me,” Berk said. “I mean no
disrespect to those who did it.”
With no competitions, the West
Bloomfield residents did the next best
thing.
They combined creativity with safety
so they could stay in shape and hopefully
compete next year in the Michigan Senior
Olympics.
With pools closed, Berk swam in Walled
Lake from late May until mid-September,
often with longtime friend and fellow
“swimaholic” Sharon Carter, hugging
the shoreline about 100 yards offshore in
4-to-5-feet deep water. The two wore wet
suits when the water was chilly.
Berk, 66, swam 1½ to 2 miles
in his workouts. He normally
swims a mile during a pool
workout.
Ellis, 61, added equipment to
his basement home gym, where
he has worked out exclusively
since the pandemic began this
spring.
Going to the gym isn’t an option for the
cancer survivor.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable there,” Ellis
said. “I’m a CPA. I do my best to minimize
risk for my clients. Going to the gym would
be a health risk for me.”
Swimming in Walled Lake became a
making lemonade out of lemons scenario
for Berk.
“This summer was the first time I swam
in a lake on a regular basis (three days a
week),” he said. “If there’s a silver lining in
this mess we’re in, I feel I got much better
workouts in the lake than I would have in a
pool because you’re fighting the wind and
waves and watching out for boat traffic.”
And watching out for police officers.
A Walled Lake officer questioned Berk
one day during a swim session. Berk told
the officer why he was swimming in the
lake even though the beach was closed and
surrounded by yellow police tape so crowds
wouldn’t gather.
“Once the officer learned what I was
doing, he was cool with it, and I didn’t get
stopped by law enforcement the rest of the
summer,” Berk said.
“The officer joked with me a little. He
said he saw me swimming in my wetsuit,
and it looked like a trash bag floating on
the water. He couldn’t make out what the
wetsuit was at first.”
Carter, 62, a Farmington resident, also
was an infrequent lake swimmer before this
summer.
“I agree with Jim. I should have done
more lake swimming years ago,” Carter
said, even though “you need to be cogni-
zant of boats, jet skis and fish.”
And turtles.
“I reached down into the water (in
Walled Lake) to pick up what I thought was
a rock and the rock moved. It was a turtle,”
Carter said.
Berk and Carter are getting in some pool
swimming these days at the Farmington
Family YMCA, which has opened for limit-
ed individual swims.
This year’s Michigan Senior Olympics
was supposed to be a qualifier for swim-
mers the 2021 National Senior Games in /
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Instead, swimmers who qualified
for the 2019 National Senior Games in
Albuquerque, N.M. are now eligible to
compete in the 2021 National Senior
Games.
So Berk can compete in the 50, 100 and
200 breaststroke in the 65-69 age group
next year in Fort Lauderdale.
“I plan to do a lot of lake swimming next
summer leading up to the nationals,” said
Berk, who competed in the 2015, 2017 and
2019 National Senior Games, winning a
silver medal in the 100 breaststroke in 2015
in Minneapolis.
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Senior Olympians
Make the Most
of a Bad Year
Jim Berk swam in
this wetsuit when
Walled Lake water
temperatures
were chilly.
TINA FRIEDMAN
suits when the water was chilly.
Berk, 66, swam 1½ to 2 miles
in his workouts. He normally
swims a mile during a pool
Ellis, 61, added equipment to
his basement home gym, where
he has worked out exclusively
since the pandemic began this
Going to the gym isn’t an option for the
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable there,” Ellis
Carter, 62, a Farmington resident, also
was an infrequent lake swimmer before this
summer.
“I agree with Jim. I should have done
more lake swimming years ago,” Carter
Powerlifter
Jeff Ellis works
out in his
basement gym
on a 32-year-old
apparatus.
LORI ELLIS
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