{"id":365759,"date":"2019-04-23T10:45:24","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T17:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=365759"},"modified":"2019-04-23T12:48:29","modified_gmt":"2019-04-23T19:48:29","slug":"bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014\u00a0One Length For Each of His 82 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Griffin Fletcher, WKU Herald.<\/em><\/p>\n

Timers set. Goggles on. \u201cReady?\u201d Blink and you might\u2019ve missed the start of a tradition almost 40 years in the making. As he\u2019s done since his 46th birthday, former WKU swim coach Bill Powell<\/strong> swam the same number of lengths in the pool as his age on Saturday, April 13, starting only minutes after 8 a.m.<\/p>\n

Now 82 years old, Powell said he believes swimming is unlike any other kind of exercise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think the best thing in the world is swimming,\u201d Powell said. \u201cSwimming\u2019s weightless, and you can do it forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Powell typically swims his birthday lengths at the Preston Center natatorium, which bears his name, he decided to swim this year at the Warren County Aquatic Center to support the RACE Aquatics Swim Club and its fundraising efforts to revamp the aquatic center. Along with working as a part-time swim instructor at WKU, Powell frequently assists the club with swim practice.<\/p>\n

During the 41 minutes and 15 seconds it took Powell to swim the length of the pool 82 times, a crowd of around 40 comprised of club members, parents and Powell\u2019s friends cheered and clapped loudly and awaited Powell\u2019s finish.<\/p>\n

\"bill-powell

Photo Courtesy: Bac Totrong\/Bowling Green Daily News<\/p><\/div>\n

He swam the lengths at a determined pace throughout, sometimes grinning before flip turning his way to another completed length, letting everyone know he was never far from having fun. \u2028Though Powell finished the lengths at a pace slightly behind that which he completed them at last year, no one seemed to notice. Instead, almost immediately after finishing, blue and yellow leis were draped around his neck, and Queen\u2019s \u201cWe Are the Champions\u201d played on the natatorium\u2019s speakers.<\/p>\n

Amanda Brooks,<\/strong> a WKU chemistry instructor and mother of RACE members, sat at one end of the pool during Powell\u2019s lengths to keep time and encourage Powell all the while.<\/p>\n

She said Powell inspired her to begin swimming for exercise a few years ago after watching him do so while giving her daughters swim lessons.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s my hero,\u201d Brooks said. \u201cYou can\u2019t beat that.\u201d<\/p>\n

RACE head coach Neil Romney<\/strong>, who also coaches the Warren County swim and dive team, first met Powell soon after starting as the RACE head coach around six months ago. He said he believes Powell is a great mentor for all his students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids love him,\u201d Romney said. \u201cHe\u2019s been a huge help to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Romney added that he respects Powell for what he\u2019s accomplished despite any age-caused limitations. He said he believes Powell is a testament to facing age in a vigorous, yet sensible, way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s inspiring to me because I know, fighting that age-related decline myself, that you just keep fighting the fight, because the alternative is worse,\u201d Romney said. \u201cHe may not swim as fast as he did the previous year, but he still has concrete goals, and he\u2019s still pursuing them with a healthy focus.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bowling Green resident Margaret Zoellner<\/strong> first took swim lessons from Powell at the Bowling Green Country Club when she was 5 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe taught me to swim,\u201d Zoellner said. \u201cI\u2019ve never not known him. He\u2019s my coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said Powell\u2019s success in swimming 82 lengths at 82 years old is something she\u2019s come to expect.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt actually doesn\u2019t surprise me at all,\u201d Zoellner said. \u201cHe\u2019s a legend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zoellner\u2019s daughters also received swim lessons from Powell and now swim for RACE. She said they still value Powell\u2019s opinion on all things swimming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would listen to him today,\u201d Zoellner said. \u201cIf he had something to say, they would stand at attention, hold their breath and listen to every word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in Wyandotte, Michigan, Bill Powell worked as a high school swim coach for 10 years before traveling to Bowling Green to kickstart the WKU men\u2019s swimming and diving program in 1969.<\/p>\n

\"bill-powell

Photo Courtesy: Bac Totrong\/Bowling Green Daily News<\/p><\/div>\n

He worked as the WKU men\u2019s swim team head coach from then until 2005, amassing a record of 330 career men\u2019s dual meet victories and winning coach of the year honors 10 times during his 36-year tenure as head coach, according to a website dedicated to Powell named CoachPowell.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bowling Green City Commissioner Brian \u201cSlim\u201d Nash<\/strong> swam for WKU from 1988-1993 under Powell\u2019s leadership. He said Powell helped shape him into who he\u2019s become.<\/p>\n

Nash said Bill Powell is remarkable for his effect on those he\u2019s close to, adding that he believes Powell\u2019s birthday lengths are much more than swimming against a timer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is swimming lengths, but it\u2019s also about his character,\u201d Nash said. \u201cThat same level of determination and commitment he passes on to everyone he knows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nash said he believes Powell\u2019s status as a gifted mentor is due in large part to the connection he shares with his wife, Joanne \u201cJoey\u201d Powel<\/strong>l.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach (Bill Powell) is who coach is because Joanne, his wife, supports him in tremendous ways,\u201d Nash said. \u201cThey have a relationship that all of us should strive for. They make it look effortless, but it takes work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Approaching 60 years of marriage in December 2019, the Powell\u2019s have four children and 12 grandchildren. However, Joey Powell said swimming has gifted them a family much larger.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough swimming, the number of kids that have gone through our lives is just mind-boggling,\u201d Joey Powell said. \u201cWe are very, very, very rich for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"bill-powell

Photo Courtesy: Bac Totrong\/Bowling Green Daily News<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Griffin Fletcher, WKU Herald. Timers set. Goggles on. \u201cReady?\u201d Blink and you might\u2019ve missed the start of a tradition almost 40 years in the making. As he\u2019s done since<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5440,"featured_media":365763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[50862,78524],"class_list":["post-365759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-college","tag-bill-powell","tag-western-kentucky-swimming"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nBill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014\u00a0One Length For Each of His 82 Years - Swimming World<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014 One Lap For Each of His 82 Years. Timers set. Goggles on. \u201cReady?\u201d Blink and you might\u2019ve missed the start of a tradition almost 40 years in the making. As he\u2019s done since his 46th birthday, former WKU swim coach Bill Powell swam the same number of lengths.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014\u00a0One Length For Each of His 82 Years\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014 One Lap For Each of His 82 Years. Timers set. Goggles on. \u201cReady?\u201d Blink and you might\u2019ve missed the start of a tradition almost 40 years in the making. As he\u2019s done since his 46th birthday, former WKU swim coach Bill Powell swam the same number of lengths.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-23T17:45:24+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-23T19:48:29+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bill-powell-1-e1556038050706.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"732\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"SW Contributor\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"SW Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"SW Contributor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/945eabbc242debc9004cc65045e3e874\"},\"headline\":\"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014\u00a0One Length For Each of His 82 Years\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-23T17:45:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-23T19:48:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/\"},\"wordCount\":952,\"commentCount\":9,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bill-powell-1-e1556038050706.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bill Powell\",\"Western Kentucky Swimming\"],\"articleSection\":[\"-Home Slider\",\"College\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/\",\"name\":\"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014\u00a0One Length For Each of His 82 Years - Swimming World\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bill-powell-1-e1556038050706.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-23T17:45:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-23T19:48:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014 One Lap For Each of His 82 Years. Timers set. Goggles on. \u201cReady?\u201d Blink and you might\u2019ve missed the start of a tradition almost 40 years in the making. As he\u2019s done since his 46th birthday, former WKU swim coach Bill Powell swam the same number of lengths.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bill-powell-1-e1556038050706.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bill-powell-1-e1556038050706.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":732,\"caption\":\"Photo Courtesy: Bac Totrong\/Bowling Green Daily News\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014\u00a0One Length For Each of His 82 Years\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/945eabbc242debc9004cc65045e3e874\",\"name\":\"SW Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8193c87adbe94b63f0301b04c3a8aa4?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8193c87adbe94b63f0301b04c3a8aa4?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"SW Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/swimming-world-contributor\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014\u00a0One Length For Each of His 82 Years - Swimming World","description":"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014 One Lap For Each of His 82 Years. Timers set. Goggles on. \u201cReady?\u201d Blink and you might\u2019ve missed the start of a tradition almost 40 years in the making. As he\u2019s done since his 46th birthday, former WKU swim coach Bill Powell swam the same number of lengths.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014\u00a0One Length For Each of His 82 Years","og_description":"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014 One Lap For Each of His 82 Years. Timers set. Goggles on. \u201cReady?\u201d Blink and you might\u2019ve missed the start of a tradition almost 40 years in the making. As he\u2019s done since his 46th birthday, former WKU swim coach Bill Powell swam the same number of lengths.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2019-04-23T17:45:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-04-23T19:48:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":732,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bill-powell-1-e1556038050706.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"SW Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@swimmingworld","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"SW Contributor","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/"},"author":{"name":"SW Contributor","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/945eabbc242debc9004cc65045e3e874"},"headline":"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014\u00a0One Length For Each of His 82 Years","datePublished":"2019-04-23T17:45:24+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-23T19:48:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/"},"wordCount":952,"commentCount":9,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bill-powell-1-e1556038050706.jpg","keywords":["Bill Powell","Western Kentucky Swimming"],"articleSection":["-Home Slider","College"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/","name":"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014\u00a0One Length For Each of His 82 Years - Swimming World","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bill-powell-1-e1556038050706.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-23T17:45:24+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-23T19:48:29+00:00","description":"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014 One Lap For Each of His 82 Years. Timers set. Goggles on. \u201cReady?\u201d Blink and you might\u2019ve missed the start of a tradition almost 40 years in the making. As he\u2019s done since his 46th birthday, former WKU swim coach Bill Powell swam the same number of lengths.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bill-powell-1-e1556038050706.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bill-powell-1-e1556038050706.jpg","width":1100,"height":732,"caption":"Photo Courtesy: Bac Totrong\/Bowling Green Daily News"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bill-powell-continues-birthday-swim-one-length-for-each-of-his-82-years\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bill Powell Continues Birthday Swim \u2014\u00a0One Length For Each of His 82 Years"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/945eabbc242debc9004cc65045e3e874","name":"SW Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8193c87adbe94b63f0301b04c3a8aa4?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8193c87adbe94b63f0301b04c3a8aa4?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"SW Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/swimming-world-contributor\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bill-powell-1-e1556038050706.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-1x9l","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5440"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}