“An invitation for lunch and I can’t even take it.”
Charlotte Sanddal takes a seat in her living room, shaking her head, laughing to herself that, at 100 years old, she’s typically too busy to make spur-of-the-moment plans. I was sitting in her living room in Helena when she got the call, having a glass of lemonade and interviewing her for The Monitor. When I first started as editor in June, her son, James, stopped by the office and told me his mother was turning 100 this summer and that she’d make an excellent story.
“She’s a Senior Olympian,” he said.
I wasn’t the only one who thought she deserved some coverage. In July, Sanddal was featured on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” which showcased her winning gold in the 100-meter race at the National Senior Games in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in July – an accomplishment that was a little anticlimactic this time considering she was the only one to enter in her age group.
During the program, she was interviewed by “Real Sports” reporter Mary Carillo, who caught up with her at the games in Florida, where the centenarian certainly made an impression.
“Oh, my God, she does flip-turns,” a spectator said while watching Sanddal at the Senior Games, footage used on the HBO program. “I would be so dizzy.”
Sanddal looked so good, Carillo said on the program she “had to investigate.” Sure enough, Sanddal’s driver’s license proved this was no hoax. Indeed, she was born Aug. 15, 1922.
Swimming, although not something she took to naturally at first – with the exception of participating in a distance swimming program while serving in the Navy during World War II – would play a large part in her retirement plan. At 72, encouraged by friend Flora Wong, Sanddal took up the sport.
“When I retired I didn’t know what I was going to do and, rather than go sit in the bar, I was introduced to the swimming pool, and I got hooked right away,” Sanddal said.
Once Sanddal got into a routine, she couldn’t get enough, and within a year started competing in the Montana Senior Olympics, an endeavor also influenced by Wong.
By the age of 74, Sanddal won a gold medal – the first of many.
For the past 28 years, Sanddal has competed in several different swimming categories, including the crawl, the butterfly, the backstroke and – most recently – the breaststroke. The sport has done wonders for her, as have the Senior Olympics, a community she cherishes.
“At the senior games everyone is friendly,” she said. “It’s not cutthroat. They welcome you.”
Cutthroat or not, Charlotte competes hard, and she has the medals to prove it, as she’s won gold and silver in a wide variety of swimming categories all over the world, including New Zealand, Australia, Italy and Canada.
It hasn’t always been easy, Sanddal added, especially at first.
“The first swimming stroke I learned was the crawl,” Charlotte said, “ and I certainly wasn’t that good. I needed coaches. I was glad to have Ann Gilbert as my first coach. She really helped me improve.”
With help from Gilbert and others, Sanddal found her way to gold. There were challenges along the way, some of which required Sanddal to get creative, which she did.
“There’s one lady in California who can just whip the socks off me,” Sanddal said. “She is so good, and she does the crawl and backstroke, so I started practicing the breaststroke.”
This paid off, as Sanddal has also won gold in the breaststroke. At age 100, she’s often the only one competing in her respective categories these days. This was the case in both Missoula and Fort Lauderdale this summer, where she took home more gold medals.
Whether she has an opponent or not, such accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. In 2017, she was inducted into the Helena Sports Hall of Fame. Her achievements have also earned her the honor of being the namesake of the Helena Swimmers Charlotte Sanddal Inspirational Swimmer Award.
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Sanddal first came out West with her husband Jim in the 1950s. Jim put his forestry degree to use in Utah, however, he didn’t stay with that profession long. Jim switched to psychology and, in 1960, took a job in Boulder at the Montana State Training School. Charlotte worked in nursing homes through the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.
After five years, Jim switched gears and the couple bought the Diamond S Ranch, now known as Boulder Hot Springs. As owners, they were intentional about restoring the “Old West” atmosphere at the resort, following in the footsteps of previous owner C. L. “Pappy” Smith.
Charlotte has fond memories of these days, particularly of the guests they served, as she said “you never knew who was going to walk through the door.”
“One night Jim came and grabbed me and said, ‘guess who’s in the bar? Larry Hagman.’” Hagman’s hit TV show, “I Dream of Jeannie,” had just aired. He and Jim hit it off, and the Sanddals were invited to stay with the Hagmans in Malibu Beach. Sanddal said she loved getting a chance to experience 1960s Hollywood firsthand, and got a laugh at seeing Carrol O’Connor (Archie Bunker on “All in the Family’’) walk his dog down the street. Oddly enough, Hagman would later star alongside Patrick Duffy in “Dallas.” Duffy was raised in Boulder whose parents – Terence and Marie Duffy – were murdered at their bar, The Owl, on Main Street in 1986 during a robbery gone awry.
It was also in 1986 when Jim and Charlotte moved to the home in Helena where Charlotte currently resides. Jim was there with her until he passed away in August of 2004. His death was hard for Charlotte, but she’s carried on and – remarkably – has gone through the aging process with very little aches and pains. She doesn’t even take medication.
As to how she’s managed such a high quality of life into the triple digits, Charlotte said swimming has been instrumental, but it really comes down to taking care of herself. This includes not smoking, eating healthy, walking regularly, stretching and doing other regular exercises.
During our interview she even demonstrated part of her exercise routine by planking – or holding her body in a push-up formation – for 30 seconds. She followed this up with a 30-second wall-sit.
Charlotte said it’s hard to believe she’s been around a century now, but she doesn’t try to make a big deal out of it. Nevertheless, she has enjoyed the celebrations, such as a 100th birthday parade in Helena’s Downtown Walking Mall last month and a reunion with her children. These occasions are nice, but, for Charlotte, she said every day feels like a celebration. She’s grateful to be here, especially after living through a pandemic. Charlotte doesn’t take anything for granted, she said, and wants to make the most of each day, be it playing bridge with her friends, going lap swimming or traveling, which she has missed during the pandemic. In October, however, she is off to Amsterdam for a two-week flat-bottom boat river cruise to Budapest.
“I never imagined making it to 100, and when you think about 100, you assume you’re going to feel old, but it’s just another day.”
