A 72-year-old stroke survivor who had never swum learned at his local pool
Tom Walsh, 72, had never learned to swim. After a stroke he started going to the pool in Selkirk, holding on to the side. For his golden wedding he swam 25 lengths.
7 November 2026
Tom lives in Selkirk, in the Scottish Borders. He had a stroke in October 2022.
His wife Marian has swum all her life. She got him to try the pool at Selkirk Leisure Centre. At first he would not let go of the side.
Grace
Grace Cockburn teaches swimming there. She was in the pool one day and saw Tom by the edge, so she went over to help.
She gave him lessons on Fridays, and he came back nearly every day to practise. “It made such a difference,” she said. “I’ve loved it, every minute of it.”
One day she told him, “Today, Tom, we’re jumping in at the deep end.” He jumped. He said later he expected to sink straight to the bottom.
The golden wedding
Tom and Marian have been married 50 years. To mark it, Tom and Grace set themselves a challenge in the pool.
Grace swam two lengths for every one of his. She finished on 50. Tom finished on 25.
Carry a story in five words
We run a game called Long Story Short: one real news sentence a day, and you keep the five words that carry it. Today’s is below. Do play.
How to play
One real news sentence. The job is to keep the five words that carry the story and let the rest go, then guess. Blue means the right word in the right place, orange the right word in the wrong place.
Yesterday: Still competing as a 103-year-old, an Australian who flew Spitfires in the war won bronze at a tennis championship on the Greek island of Crete last week. The five were grandson pulled grandmother through window.