Meet Mieko Nagaoka: 100-year-old woman who won 1500 Meter swimming competition (Photo)
Mieko Nagaoka enters Guinness World Record book after apparently becoming oldest person to complete the distance
A 100-year-old Japanese woman has become the world’s first centenarian to complete a 1,500-metre freestyle swim, 20 years after she took up the sport.
Mieko Nagaoka took just under an hour and 16 minutes to finish the race as the sole competitor in the 100 to 104-year-old category at a short course pool in Ehime, western Japan, on Saturday.
Nagaoka only took up swimming when she hit 80, one of the growing number of elderly Japanese who are enjoying longer and healthier lives as the country ages.
“I want to swim until I turn 105 if I can live that long,” the sprightly Nagaoka said
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