Inspiration can come in unexpected forms. For many members at Innovative Health & Fitness in Franklin, inspiration comes as a 100-year-old swimmer, caressing the water with each effortless stroke.
Jean Toepfer is not your average centenarian. Twice weekly she hits the pool at the health club, motivating others decades younger than her to have a swim. She’s kept up her water routine since turning 93 and has no plans to stop.
“If you rest, you rust,” she tells people. “I like a nice, leisurely stroke. You don’t have to rush when you’re swimming. I just take my time.”
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About eight years ago, Toepfer was urged by her daughter to resume swimming after her husband’s death. She joined Innovative, and now, visits to the club provide her not only exercise but a social network. The folks she swims with are in their 70s and 80s, and they chat regularly. And Toepfer feels refreshed and invigorated by the pool, both physically and mentally.
“I know it’s going to help me,” she says. “I really don’t think about my age.”
She typically logs 10 laps of sidestroke – her favorite stroke – after first spending time in the adjacent activity pool. Her warm-up includes socializing with fellow water mates.
The club’s oldest member, Toepfer was recently named the member of the month. “A true inspiration to everyone around her,” the club proclaimed in its newsletter.
“She has an uplifting personality,” says Katie Schneider, Innovative’s operations manager, when describing Toepfer. “She’s always smiling and positive.”
“She’s the sunshine girl; she brings life,” says fellow swimmer Genie Wisniewski. “She checks on all of us at the pool and brings such a positive attitude.”
Born in 1926 as Jean Ann Jennings, she grew up in Milwaukee during the Great Depression. She developed her love for the water at a young age. Her uncle’s Bay View home abutted Lake Michigan, and it was there that she began swimming. Further, Toepfer’s grandmother had a house on Moose Lake in Oconomowoc, and she spent many summers as a young teenager swimming sidestroke across that lake, too.
She graduated valedictorian from South Division High School. Among just a handful of women accepted into Marquette University, Toepfer earned an undergraduate chemistry degree. She was one of three women in her class of 100 chemistry graduates in 1948.
“It was mostly a boys’ school back then,” she says. “The guys did not like us. We kind of broke the barrier for women. The Jesuits really helped us get through.”
She married Bill Toepfer shortly after graduating. He loved fishing. Their first home was a small boat house on the Fox River in Waterford – a natural fit. After a few years in the working world, Jean chose to stay home and start a family.
The young couple moved back to Milwaukee for its educational opportunities. They bought a house on the southwest side and raised three daughters there. Toepfer ensured her children could swim, carting them Downtown to the YWCA for lessons. The family enjoyed camping, often lodging near a Wisconsin lake to swim and canoe.
While never losing her love for water, Jean stopped distance swimming after starting her family. Since resuming, what motivates her now – at age 100 – to keep swimming, especially on frigid winter days?
“I like the water on my body. It seems to calm me down. And I’m hyper much of the time. It’s probably due to my five years studying chemistry at Marquette University!” she says with a sly smile.
She adds: “You don’t want to just sit inside your house. If I don’t get those legs moving, I’m toast!”
Does she think her swimming inspires others to swim? She’s not sure, but “maybe it can get people to say to themselves, ‘Look at what Jean is doing. Maybe I can do that,’” she says.
Correction: This story has been updated with Jean Toepfer’s correct city of residence.
