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Back in the swim of things

By JIM CUNNINGHAM/Staff

A former Wytheville resident stopped by the area recently to grab a handful of gold before heading back to California.
B.J. Hansen, who is a former Wythe County administrator, competed in the 18th annual Coventry Commonwealth Games. He won seven gold medals the swimming competition held in Roanoke last Saturday (July 21).
Hansen actually captured five gold medals in individual events and tacked on another two by swimming on winning relay teams (50-meter freestyle and 50-meter medley). His individual medals were in: 50-meter backstroke, 50-meter freestyle, 50-meter breaststroke, 100-meter backstroke and 100-meter freestyle.
This was just the third time that Hansen has competed in the Commonwealth Games. It’s been at least five years since the last time, in which he also won five gold medals.
Hansen was in Wytheville visiting with family members and tending to real estate properties and decided to enter the Games.
He wants to come back next year to the Games because he was not satisfied with his times in the events, despite winning.
He didn’t want to boast too much about the medals because “when you get as old as I am, the competition either is sick or dies.”
Hansen, 81, won all of his medals in the men’s age 80-84 division.
A frequent swimming competitor, Hansen is now getting back to entering more of swimming events after taking about two years off due to getting a knee replaced.
He’s getting back in shape rather quickly due to frequent rehabilitation by – you guessed it – swimming.
Hansen said he swims at least three times a week at a pool in the condominium where he lives near Los Angeles. He is getting back to swimming five times a week. His total distance has been increasing from about half a mile to a mile. He said he breaks the distances up over the course of the day.
However, he did recently swim in a one-mile race in the Pacific Ocean off Malibu. Hansen also swims for his alma mater, the University of Southern California on alumni water polo teams.
He also attended and played football for Okalahoma and Kansas State, while he was in the military during World War II.
Hansen graduated from USC on a swimming scholarship and went on to have success throughout his life in the sport, which he recommends for anyone of any age.
“Swimming can do so much for you,” said Hansen. “It does a lot of good, healthy things as you get older. It helps you get through illness a lot better.”
He agreed that swimming for him after knee replacement is the “perfect plan” for a rehabilitation program.
Hansen and his wife are planning to move soon to Palm Springs.
Perhaps to be closer to the movie stars? He didn’t say that was the reason, but Hansen does indeed enjoy a side career in the movies and on TV?
He’s been a model for clothing magazines and had made small appearances in TV and movies. He said he still gets residuals from the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries,” in which he played a dead man.
He’s also been in movies. He was in the board room scene in the first Spider Man movies and he was in a nursing home scene in “Meet the Fockers.”
He nearly got into the recent movie, “The Transformers,” but he was recovering from his knee surgery and couldn’t respond accordingly when the director yelled “action.”
“The part called for me to scream and run,” said Hansen. “I could scream, but I couldn’t run” (due to his sore knee). Reluctantly, Hansen had to withdraw from the movie.
His knee is substantially better these days and he’s even returned to another of his favorite sports, surfing. He can be frequently seen with his surfboard along a California beach. Or you can occasionally spot him on TV or in the movies.