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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