Chelmsford grandad, 87, does one sport every day for 10 years to 'keep him young'

An Essex grandad who lost his wife of more than 50 years decided to get fit and active to train seven-days-a-week - and has now bagged a gold medal at the British Rowing Indoor Championships at the age of 87.

Howard Cole, a retired man from Chelmsford, is encouraging other people his age to "give indoor rowing a go" after "training almost seven days a week for ten years" which led to him taking home a first place medal last year. Howard retired in 1994 following long-term stints as both a mechanical engineer and an insurance agent, completing his National Service during that time too.

20 years later, Howard’s wife of 55 years suffered two major strokes and began a long period of ill health, inspiring Howard to "get as fit as possible" in order to "help him feel younger" and pay regular visits to his wife’s care home. Howard joined his local gym and discovered that the indoor rowing machine would allow him to get fit "without the risk of falling in the water".

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He began training seven days a week for upwards of an hour and a half each day, before spending the remainder of each day beside his wife in her care home. Following her death in 2021, Howard decided to continue keeping up his fitness in order to "keep him feeling young", and in 2023, he entered the British Indoor Rowing Championships in Birmingham.

In one of the most emotive moments in British Rowing history, Howard took first place in the Masters 85-89 Open category that day, setting a new record for his age category. That day, he was cheered on by a close competitor in Colin Lloyd, who had been rowing for over 70 years and was taking part in the competition despite being registered as blind.

Howard described receiving his medal and showing it to close friends and family as "one of the proudest moments of his life", explaining in a post-race interview that ‘he wishes he could tell his wife’ about setting a new record for his age category.

Rowing continues to play an enormous part in the lives of Howard’s family, with Howard and his son, Jon, being given the chance to get out on the water at the Royal Albert Dock with Curlew Rowing Club, of which Howard is an honorary member. Having loved the experience of rowing alongside his dad, Jon now continues to row with Curlew Rowing Club, while Howard’s grandson, Milo, has also won several medals in rowing.

The three generations of rowers also competed together at the British Indoor Rowing Championships back in 2019. Now, Howard insists he has "unfinished business" with rowing and wants to "continue pushing himself to be the best he can be". Howard said: "I want people to try it for themselves. You might be like it, you might not, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know."

He added: “For me, the most important thing is to look after your friends and family. It’s so important to take care of each other and is the foundation for a long and happy life."

This year’s British Rowing Indoor Championships will be taking place across December 7 and 8 at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, with more than 2,000 rowers expected to take part alongside 15,000 FitFest athletes.