Libby woman, 71, places at swimming world championships

At 71 years old, most athletic careers are long over.

For Troy’s Ella Ackley, there are years left in the pool.

Ackley just returned from a trip to the 15th FINA World Masters Championships in Montreal with several medals and a ton of stories.

“Yes I’m glad I went. Yes, I spent too much money doing it,” she said. “But this is what I save my change to do. Going to an international meet was on my bucket list.”

Ackley, who has swam recreationally for decades, only recently got into competitive swimming.

The fruits of her labor paid off in Canada when she faced off with 40 other international swimmers in competition.

Ackley took fifth in the 200-meter backstroke, sixth in the 50-meter freestyle, 7th in the 50-meter backstroke and 12th in the other two races.

More than 5,500 swimmers competed in the world championships, from dozens of countries.

“I was the only one in my heat from the United States,” Ackley said. “But they all spoke enough English to communicate with. They were all great and we had a good time.”

Ackley drove for five days from Troy to reach the Quebecois city. Swimmers ranged from 25-years old to the mid-90s and competed in hundreds of heats.

One of the oldest athletes is a friend of Ackley, 93-year old Charlotte Sanddal from Helena.

“She was one of the most fired up out there,” Ackley said. “She was saying I’ve got to start practicing. She had finished in third a couple times and that was just unacceptable for her.”

Ackley was born in New York and first took to the water in 8th grade, when her family moved to California.

Her coach at the time? Her future husband and long-time friend Corky Teska. The two later moved to Lincoln County to run a racquet and swim club.

Ackley and Teska have since divorced, but remain close. Teska was the one who told his ex-wife she should try out for the Montana Senior Olympics.

“I was just running at the time, we have no pool around here,” Ackley said. “But then I looked at the qualifying times and thought, I can do that no problem.”

She traveled to Libby to swim laps in the Venture Motor Inn pool before taking on legitimate racers. She went on to break five Montana state records that first senior Olympics.

“Obviously they weren’t that fast,” she said.

Ackley now drives to Sandpoint, Idaho several times a week to stay with friends and swim there.

“I even have my own bedroom to stay in,” she said. “I drive there, swim, stay the night, swim again and then drive back.”

All the practice will be put to good use, as she spends part of the winter swimming and competing in Florida and will be at the next Montana Senior Olympics.

No word if she intends to best her times at the next FINA World Masters Championships.