Retiree keeps in shape with tennis, healthy diet

Marilyn LeComte, 76, never gets a day off now that she and her husband, Robert, are retired, but they've never been so healthy and happy.

She enjoys crafts, collecting, the Long Bay Symphony, mailing gifts to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and the occasional romantic flick, but tennis is her passion, and she has no problem keeping up with the younger crowd.

Question | Tell me about yourself and your views on heath.

Answer | Well, I'm very, very adamant about staying as young as I can because I have all these wonderful grandchildren and great-grandchildren [35 family members in all], so I try to be healthy, and I walk every day. Bob and I try to eat healthy, but you know how that is.

I play tennis four or five days a week, and I'm very grateful that all those young women play tennis with me. I'm much older than most of them, but I enjoy playing.

Our tennis team [with Wachesaw Plantation Club] has gone away on trips for two nights and three days where we have clinics and play tennis, and I fit in as best I can.

Q. | What do you do to eat healthy?

A. | We try to eat healthy, a lot of salmon, chicken, chicken and more chicken. Bob is trying to take care of himself, too. We'll be married 55 years in June. That's a lifetime.

Q. | How long have you been playing tennis?

A. | Bob gave me a tennis racket when I was 49, so I never started as a young woman, but we moved [to Murrells Inlet] 14 years ago, and I've been really playing since I was over 60.

I started by taking some lessons, and I do OK. Of course, when you play with better players, you do better.

Q. | Is it more of a challenge playing with these younger women?

A. | I think so. I try my best to give them a good game if I can. But what I do that I think is good, is I always call people to play. I've played three matches and won two out of three, which isn't bad. But I do a lot of the calling and organizing because I want to play.

Q. | Was tennis difficult to learn at first?

A. | A little, but I just took it slow and I kept getting a little better and joined the teams. I played in a super senior group as well. My game is better because I play with better players.

I just enjoy it; that's my thing, and in between I do everything else.