When Claire Joncas was diagnosed with diabetes nine years ago, her life changed. 

“When I went to a meeting about it and the guy said to look around, half of you are going to make it, half of you are not, I got scared. I didn’t want to be one of those people that didn’t make it,”  she said.

She started taking the medicine her doctor prescribed and began to eat healthier and exercise. “I would feel all fuzzy in the morning, but when I started to exercise, my head would clear and I would pep up and feel younger.”

She exercised more and more. After building up her strength walking, she decided to joined the YWCA in Lewiston and signed up for swim classes.  “It felt so good I wanted to do it more,” she said.

Nearly an obsession now, she walks to and from the Y three times a day, five days a week. She does not dive in and swim laps, but walks, kicks and moves around in the classes designed for seniors or general swims that are open to anyone. 

“It costs money to come here, but I don’t have to buy medicine now, so it evens out,” she said.

With her good eating habits and exercise regimen, her sugar levels have changed so much that her doctor decided to take her off all medicine.

During the swim classes at the Y on any given day there are nearly two dozen seniors bobbing, splashing and thrashing through the water.  “We don’t just exercise, there is a lot of talking going on. We gossip, tell stories about family and friends, swap recipes and talk about what’s going on in town,” she said. 

“If more people would exercise and watch what they eat, they could live a better life and live longer. It might be hard at first, but once you start doing it all the time, you feel so good that you want to do it all the time,” Claire said.

At 67, the Lewiston native is not close to being one of the oldest in the pool. Some of “the girls” are in their 80s and 90s.

“We get some men that come once in a while, but they don’t usually last too long,” Claire said.