Julia Hughes’s eyes sparkle as she contemplates the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean that surround her.
“As you get old, I truly believe you should carry on doing what you love doing,” the diminutive 70-year-old says.
“I love swimming and I’ve been swimming since I was seven. I just feel happy in the water. It’s such a lovely thing to do.
“Swimming has helped me to meet people and to keep me fit and just be happy.”
The British woman has travelled from her home in Britain to the warm, clear waters of the Turkish Lycian coast to join a week-long swim tour with 14 other experienced ocean swimmers.
The group swims twice a day along a remote stretch of coastline. (Supplied: Basquali)
Many of them are decades younger than the septuagenarian, but she’s still capable of leaving a few of them in her wake.
“You actually just reminded me that she’s 70 because, in my eyes, she’s 45 or 50,” says swim guide Aoife Doran.
“She has a young energy and that’s what we see so much with the people that do come on these holidays … they are reminded to play and reclaim that young energy that we all have.”
Julia Hughes is described as having a “young energy”. (Supplied: Basquali)
There’s a growing body of evidence indicating that regular strenuous physical activity can help stave off and even reverse the effects of aging.
It’s creating boom conditions for tourism operators specialising in helping older travellers combine holidays to far-flung destinations with healthy activities like hiking, cycling and swimming.
‘People want adventure’
Aoife Doran says interest in the tours she leads first surged when COVID lockdowns encouraged more people to take to the open water.
Ilgen Ilter and Aoife Doran say tour participants enjoy taking time out to focus on themselves. (Supplied: Basquali)
“[There’s been] a massive, massive increase. I’ve noticed in the last eight years there’s definitely a demand for active holidays,” she says.
“People don’t want to just go on cruise ships or just lie out in the sun all day.
“People actually want adventure and do something healthy and move and see different parts of the world that they wouldn’t normally do on a normal holiday.
“[Swimming] requires strength and movement and it keeps you young and healthy.”
That’s echoed by her fellow swim tour guide, Ilgin Ilter, a 23-year-old former World Swimming Championship competitor for Türkiye.
During the tour, it’s her job to coach the visiting swimmers and help improve their technique. She’s noticed many of her best students are old enough to be classed as senior citizens.
“They’re like, retired, and they’re not working anymore, and they don’t take care of children anymore, so they have more free time to just focus on themselves.”
For the love of it
Sixty-four-year-old Bryn Nyman took up distance swimming back home in Britain when her kids became adults.
“I hate being bored and just lying by the pool is nothing for me,” she says.
“It’s a sport or a thing you can take with you or practise until the day you go, maybe into my 90s if I get that old. I think there’s no age limit to this.”
Bryn Nyman and Julia Hughes say swimming makes them happy. (ABC News: Nick Grimm)
Each day, Bryn Nyman, Julia Hughes and a boatload of other swimmers board a repurposed traditional Turkish fishing boat known as a gulet for the short voyage to a remote stretch of coastline, where they jump into the water for a 2-kilometre swim followed by lunch on the boat. They follow up with a second 2km swim in the afternoon.
“I love being able to swim the whole day, being out on a boat and not having to think about it, and looking at everything that’s there,” Ms Nyman says.
Carol Gifford, 65, has travelled from the United States to share the experience too.
Carol Gifford says she enjoys active travel with a bit of adventure. (Supplied: Basquali)
“As I get older and older, I just want to continue to be active because I think it’s great to be physically fit. I love to do active travel with a little adventure, and I like to do things I’ve never done before or that get me out of my comfort zone, because that keeps me, I think, mentally good.
“So I think these kind of trips, you feel good every day and even better every day based on all the exercise.”
Sydney-based heart specialist James Otton is a conjoint associate professor at St Vincent’s Clinical School, as well as being a dedicated ocean swimmer.
James Otton enjoys the perks of ocean swimming, like this view. (Supplied: Basquali)
“To be honest, the reason why I swim is just because I love it,” he says.
“[But] as a cardiologist, I always recommend exercise. [It has] so many health benefits — blood pressure, insulin resistance, increased strength.
“The more active you can be in terms of both strength and mobility and flexibility in your middle or later years, the longer you’ll be able to preserve independence and that strength that’s necessary for independence over the long term.”
Another medico on the tour, Sydney doctor and surgeon David Yeo, offers a different perspective.
He says the daily physical challenge isn’t just good for the body, it’s also a great way to de-stress and relax.
Outback grazier completes 30km ocean swim
“Oh absolutely. I think we’re all sleeping better at night because we’ve been active during the day,” Dr Yeo says.
“When you get to the end of the day and you’ve done something useful and enjoyable, you really can enjoy that cocktail or a beer.
“I mean, it’s exhilarating to know that you survived.”
It’s a survival strategy for 70-year-old Julia Hughes too.
Swimming is something she intends to keep doing for years to come.
“In the ocean, I just relax and go with the flow because if you’ve got aches and pains, you can still swim,” she says.
“It’s not as though we’re trying to play tennis or run around or do jerky movements. It’s all nice and smooth, easy going, unless you want to up the pace and make more of it.
“It’s a lovely sport to have.”