'It just brings more energy': Crystal Lake skater says she's getting older and better
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The expression is "Father Time is undefeated."
But we're seeing athletes pro and amateur alike show staying power is at an all-time high.
The U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships is kicking off in Delaware with nearly 500 skaters 21 to 83 years old competing.
CBS 2's Jackie Kostek takes us to the Glacier Ice Arena to meet a 64-year-old from Crystal Lake who is proving without a doubt that age ain't nothing but a number.
"Skating is my passion and one of the things that we all know in the adult world is that if you do the things you love, it just brings on more energy."
You can't watch Cindy Crouse skate without feeling her joy.
"There's nowhere you can go where you feel like you're flying unless you actually were flying. I love the ice."
For someone who loves the ice as much as Crouse, it may come as a surprise that she spent about half her life off of it. Skating recreationally until she reached high school and then taking a 35-year break.
"My young niece decided they would like to try skating so I took them to the rink and they were kind of like a board hugger and I was like, 'woah, this is the best thing that's ever happened to me.'"
Crouse wanted more so at 47 years old, she hired a coach.
"We had been together about 25 minutes and she said to me, 'have you ever thought about competing?' And I thought, 'well who's there to compete against? I'm old."
Crouse had aged out of the amateur circuit but found herself squarely in the mix of the U.S. adult figure skating world.
Most skaters lose the ability to do certain jumps and spins as they get older. The opposite is true for Cindy who is actually picking things up in 40s, 50s, and 60s that she was never able to do in her teens."
"When I turned 50, the week of my birthday, I landed my first double salchow."
Now at 64, Crouse has two double jumps and is working on a third. She's qualified for nationals 14 of 17 years and won it all in 2009.
And while Crouse says she has a healthy fear of falling, it's the wisdom of years that keeps her flying, the knowing that she skates for no one but herself, for no reason other than a love for the sport.
"I don't worry about placements, I don't worry about the other skaters. I really am concerned with putting on a good performance so that everybody, the judges, the audience, the other skaters will just know how much I love to skate."
