Couldn’t swing a ticket to Beijing? Next year, you’ll get another chance to see some of our nation’s best athletes when the 2009 Summer National Senior Games come to Palo Alto. The multisport event will bring together 12,750 athletes, including Fasbender, 71, who holds several world records in masters swimming from Palo Alto.

How did you get involved in this competition? I swam in high school and in college. I've been active in the masters swimming group [a national swimming program for adult swimmers] since 1973.

What do you like about competitive swimming? It does wonders for you, keeping you healthy and feeling good all day long.

Any other benefits? Yes, most people think I’m 15 years younger than I look. You have a lot more energy; when you work hard, you don’t have any trouble sleeping at night.

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Do you think most people don’t think of seniors as athletes? Yes, in general, most people don’t think people in their 70s, or even in their 60s, can do things like that.

Do you like proving them wrong? Yes, that’s fun.

Are the Senior Games like the Olympics? That’s a pretty good comparison. There’s different sports, just like in the Olympics, some of them you’ve never heard of before. When we went to the [2007] World Senior Games in Utah, they had cowboy games.