Daily Swims for a 90-Year-Old
This is an excerpt of a piece that appeared in the Wall Street Journal. Read the full article here.
When Leo 
was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001, he requested that his radiation appointments be scheduled around his daily swim routine. “The first day I had radiation, I went out and walked 2 miles afterward to prove to myself I was still strong,” says Mr. Shliselberg, 90.
He has undergone 45 rounds of radiation and never missed a day in the pool due to treatment. He still has small traces of cancer in his body and takes an oral chemotherapy drug daily.
Mr. Shliselberg started his regular workout routine only after he retired in 1991 after 20 years at New York Telephone Co., checking wires and connections from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. “When I retired, I needed to find purpose. I had to keep working my mind and body, because if you don’t use it, as they say, you lose it.”
This past March, he and his wife, Rita, 85, moved to an apartment at RiverWalk, an independent senior residence on the campus of the Hebrew Home in Riverdale, N.Y. The campus has an indoor pool a five-minute walk from his apartment, so he can swim year round.
Even on days when he feels tired, Mr. Shliselberg says he gets re-energized just thinking about swimming. “You have to make an effort in life if we want to live the fullest life. Time in the pool really isn’t that much effort.”
“Leo prides himself on how great of a shape he’s in,” says David Nanus, chief of the division of hematology and medical oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. Dr. Nanus has been taking care of Mr. Shliselberg since 2005 and sees him every six months. “There is no question in my mind that swimming has contributed to how extremely well he is doing and his positive attitude.”