John Whittemore, '21, calls himself "old and brittle" and is none too happy with the hip replacement surgery that forced him to start using a cane almost two years ago. But the onetime Stanford tennis and baseball player still exercises an hour a day--and, at 97, competes in track and field tournaments for seniors.
Whittemore holds a number of age-division records, and his 1995 world best in 50-meter freestyle swimming (ages 90-94) still stands. Over the years, he's won 300 masters athletic awards, including gold medals in diving, swimming, racquetball, badminton and canoeing. These days, he's narrowed his focus to discus, hammer and javelin throwing. Showing up is half the battle: "It's 'Do you want your medal now, or after your performance?' " he quips.
Whittemore, whose father, John Sr., '92, was Stanford's first student-body president and first football captain, lives on his own in Santa Barbara, Calif., and tends a 4.5-acre spread. Not one to make a fuss about his longevity, he admits it would be nice to top 100: "Then I'll have lived in three centuries."
