76-Year-Old Kurian Jacob Turns Retirement Into A New Beginning

Mumbai: A late start in competitive swimming has taken former international banker Kurian Jacob from state-level meets to the World Masters Games. Now, with Kansai 2027 in his sights, he is chasing a world-record dream while advocating greater support for India's Masters athletes through the WalkAbout athlete program.

Retirement in 2017 did not bring an end to competition. Instead, it eventually opened the door to an unlikely sporting career for a lifelong swimming enthusiast who went from international banking to representing India as a Masters swimmer.

Swimming had been part of his life since childhood, but never as a competitive sport. During his student years, athletics was his competitive pursuit, while swimming remained an exercise routine through his working life.

That changed in 2019 when college friends persuaded him to enter a state-level Masters swimming competition. He won a few medals, but a subsequent national competition brought no medals and provided an unexpected motivation to improve.

With YouTube serving as his coach, he began practising seriously. Results followed, and by 2023 he was ready to test himself internationally. He travelled to Finland hoping for at least a bronze but returned with three silver and two bronze medals, besides recording personal-best timings in the 400-metre and 800-metre events.

There was, as he puts it, "no going back".

Competitions followed in Cleveland in 2024, Taiwan in 2025 and Abu Dhabi in 2026. His standout performance came at the 2025 World Masters Games in Taipei, where he won nine medals, including two golds.

Of those achievements, the three-kilometre open-water event remains particularly special. It was his first open-water competition at an international venue, and swimming three kilometres in unfamiliar waters initially brought anxiety.

Once the race began, however, memories of the fast-flowing river near his childhood home helped settle his nerves. "Then I started swimming happily, enjoying the buoyancy of the waves," he recalls. Winning gold made the experience particularly satisfying.

His next major target is the World Masters Games in Kansai, Japan, in 2027. He is pursuing what he calls his "dream highest" philosophy, setting his sights on a world record in the 200-metre freestyle in the 75-80 age category.

The ambition shapes a demanding training routine. He swims about three kilometres in the morning and trains six days a week. A UK-based swimming coach has tailored a programme covering speed, endurance and technique. He also visits the gym three days a week and incorporates stretching and yoga into his routine.

He follows intermittent fasting and says nutrition remains an area that requires greater attention. His diet includes minimally processed and slow-cooked foods, while sound sleep is central to his recovery.

His ambitions, however, extend beyond personal medals and records. Through the WalkAbout Athlete Programme, he hopes to encourage older people to become more active.

"Move. If you are not doing it, start with a step. If you're doing it, do more and show up whenever and wherever an opportunity comes up," he says. "Age can be a number and sportsmen never retire."

He also wants greater recognition for Masters athletes in India's sports policy. While welcoming increased investment in sporting infrastructure and athletes, he believes senior sport deserves specific attention, including incentives for Masters medal winners, better training facilities, coaching and financial assistance for international competitions.

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Corporate sponsorship could also help Masters athletes meet training and travel costs, he says, while greater participation among senior citizens could have wider benefits by promoting healthier ageing.

For now, Kansai remains firmly on the horizon. He is marking the journey with a 300-day countdown on Instagram, which he says is evolving from a personal swimming story into one about community wellness.

His message to others contemplating a new sporting journey later in life is simple: "Start, move more and show up. Live life fully."

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