Vivian Stancil, 71, had every reason not to get into the swimming pool at age 50. Blind since the age of 19, she never learned how to swim.
Then again, she had every reason to get in that water: Her doctor told her she had to start exercising and prescribing to a healthier lifestyle or she wouldn’t live another 10 years.
Stancil was 319 pounds — morbidly obese for standing five feet tall — and she could barely walk. But, she wanted to live.
So, not only did she learn how to swim, and drop from a size 24 to a size 12, but she has more than 220 medals to her name. That reason alone is enough to admire Stancil, but throw in the fact that she also runs a foundation that provides free swimming lessons to at-risk adults and children, and you realize what a true champion of the water she is.
Stancil has risen in the face of challenges ever since she was a little girl. At 7 years old, she and her three siblings were placed in foster homes when their parents died. She was essentially forced into marriage at 16 years old by her foster parents and shortly after, birthed two children. Then at 19, she began to lose her eyesight to a genetic condition called retinitis pigmentosa. Still, she earned a bachelor’s degree from La Verne College in California as a single mom, and then became the first and only blind teacher in the Riverside and Long Beach school districts.
After she retired in her late 40s, her weight shot up as she and five friends, who called themselves “the Eating Club,” dined out often.
But when Stancil received some grim feedback from the doctor regarding her health, her Eating Club friends were the first to chime in with their honest options.
“‘You’re too fat to run or ride a bike,’ they said,” Stancil told the L.A. Times. “‘What about swimming? After all, fat floats.'”
Terrified but willing to give it a shot, she found a good swim instructor and cleaned up her diet, and little by little, she started to shed the weight.
As Stancil became more comfortable in the water and acquired different swimming strokes, she wanted to test herself against others, so she signed up for a local Senior Games qualifier and took home a third place finish in her age group in the 50-meter freestyle. From there, she went on to shine at the state level and the national level.
How does she swim despite not being able to see? She counts her strokes “because nothing will ruin your day like bumping your head on the wall.”
Her community considers her such an inspiration that she speaks at youth empowerment clinics multiple times per year, and shows kids that trying something new, despite being scared, can open up doors to incredible opportunities.
There’s something to be said for taking control of your future, and Vivian Stancil is living proof.
