Images courtesy of Ann Senn. Photography by Erika McCauley of Erika McCauley Photographers

According to Ann Senn, life deals us all a few blows where there are certain things we just have to give up.

A Life Time Fitness member in Chanhassen, MN, Senn was dealt one of those blows, rolled with it and turned it into something remarkable.

Over four years ago, Senn decided to jump back into a swimming pool and work on her strokes after a near 30-year absence.

A former high-school swimmer, Senn made her way back after arthritis made it too difficult for her to participate and compete in activities such as softball, racquetball, and even running.

“After a while it became, what can I really do?” Senn said.

Fast-forward to present day, Senn now looks back on the last few years as a time period of many firsts — such as the first time competing at the national and international levels —and looks forward to what she can still accomplish in the pool.

“The goal to begin with was to swim and improve my fitness,” Senn said.

Starting off by simply swimming laps in Life Time Fitness pools over four years ago, Senn said she found out that just swimming laps wouldn’t be enough to keep her coming back — she needed goals. She needed to compete.

Soon, Senn began competing in state meets in Minnesota and later joined a Masters swimming team in Minnetonka, MN. With the team, she qualified for the U.S. Masters Swimming National Championships in Florida and performed well in her first appearance in national competition.

“I compete because it gives me goals,” Senn said. “Setting goals sort of keeps my interest and keeps me going back to the pool.”

A year after her first national competition, Senn qualified for the 2007 USMS Long Course Meters Nationals and competed in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle, 50-meter butterfly and 50-meter and 100-meter backstroke competitions.

“I’m actually a drop-dead sprinter,” Senn said. “That means you drop dead if you do anything other than short distances.”

During the national competition, Senn placed in the Top-10 in each of her events for her age group and actually qualified for the 2008 FINA World Masters Championships in Perth, Australia.

Coming upon her 50th birthday, her family decided the international competition could double as a family vacation and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Senn.

“We ended up voting. It was three for and one against for going to Worlds,” Senn said about the family vote. “I was the against.”

In short time, Senn said she found a coach who would help prepare her for the world championships and one of the most exciting experiences.

“I had no idea what I was doing … But I got to swim against people I only read about,” Senn said.

In fact, Senn said she raced against famed Australian swimmer Shane Gould, the three-time Olympic gold medalist from the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, in three events.

“She is an absolute queen … Who would have ever figured I’d see her live, much less swimming against her in races,” Senn said.

However, Senn showed few signs of being awestruck during her competitions.

In her first international meet, Senn placed fifth in the world in the 50-meter freestyle, fourth in the 100-meter freestyle, third in the 50-meter backstroke, second in the 100-meter backstroke and third in the 50-meter butterfly.

Beyond the competitions, Senn said she also realized that swimming made her arthritis easier to manage.

Prior to swimming competitively, Senn said she was taking arthritis-specific pain medicine. After 12 to 18 months, she said, she was completely off the prescriptions and just taking ibuprofen for pain and soreness.

A year later, Senn no longer needs to take ibuprofen, at least not for muscle or join pain. Senn said she isn’t pain-free, citing some occasional discomfort in her shoulders, but she’s much better off then when she had to quit running and hop into the pool.

“Swimming put the strength back into me and sort of the energy and athleticism back into me that was hard to recapture,” Senn said.

"Now what do you think of that?”

Check out Part II of Chasing the Masters World Championships: The story of Life Time Fitness member Ann Senn on Thursday.