Adrienne Chin-Ogilvie, at the age of 63, is living proof that the saying “age is just a number” is more than just a cliché as she continues her sporting career.

In 2022, Chin-Ogilvie became the first Jamaican woman in history to qualify for the 2023 Aquathlon World Championship in Ibiza, Spain.

Participating in the 60-64 female age group category at the championship last May, which consisted of a 1k swim followed by 5km run, she found the going tough as she finished 29th out of 30 competitors in a time of 01:11:53.

However, she told the Jamaica Observer that the time nor the position mattered to her as she was filled with pride donning the black, green and gold.

“It was very uplifting and an honour to be Jamaica’s representative. I trained but sometimes you don’t get the results that you wish but again, I was there to finish and to do the brand Jamaica justice which was very well received,” she said.

English-born Chin-Ogilvie, who is a current member of the Jamaica Triathlon Association, has always been active in sports as she competed in a wide range of sports including track and field where she did long jump for Covent of Mercy Academy ”Alpha” at the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association Girls Championships.

However, decades later, she has remained competitive and has competed in several swimming and triathlon events worldwide, where she has won several awards.

To achieve such a feat at that age comes with a cost but US-based Chin-Ogilvie says she tries her best to make it work.

“It is harder because the older you get, the more intense you have to train to keep up and to even finish so working full time and juggling the training is challenging as you get older but you have to just make your schedule and follow it no matter and you can get there,” she said.

One of her major achievements for 2023 was winning the women’s 5k event at the Jamaica Inn Foundation’s Swim For the Sanctuary Open Water Championships in St Ann in November.

While she was the sole female competitor courageous enough to participate in the 5k event, her goal is that the next generation will follow suit in the years to come.

“I hope I was able to inspire the younger ones to do it next time or set a goal to do it, so my goal is to finish and inspire the younger crowd to finish but it’s hard and requires a lot of training,” she said.

Approaching 64 years old, Chin-Ogilvie doesn’t plan on easing up in 2024 as she gears up to compete at another World Aquathlon Championships in August in Australia as well as the Pan American Masters Games in July.

She’s not necessarily targeting a place on the podium as the mere act of competing is its own victory.

“I’m going up in age, 64, then 65 and the point is that no matter how old you are, you just have to put your mind to it and just do what you need to do to get to the finish line. The goal is to finish and at certain point in your life, winning is not as paramount but it would be nice but if it doesn’t happen, finishing is just the satisfaction overall,” she said.