Leaving Others in His Wake : Swimming: Woody Bowersock, 80, swims a mile a day and has competed in senior meets all over the world.

Leisure World? Woody Bowersock might well be considered false advertisement for the retirement community.

There’s nothing in the least leisurely about his world.

You’re more likely to find the retired elementary school principal churning out the mileage in Leisure World’s Pool 5 or playing shuffleboard with the boys.

No afternoon game shows for this kid.

“I’ve always had the philosophy that if you retire to nothing, you don’t live more than three years,” he said. “You have to retire to something.”

Something for Bowersock, 80, meant rekindling his love affair with swimming 16 years ago, a liaison that had been dormant for 44 years.

As a teen-ager growing up in Milwaukee, Bowersock followed awkwardly in the footsteps of two older brothers, both swimmers. He wasn’t even fast enough to make his high school team.

Things changed for Bowersock in college, where he was chairman of the intramural swim program at the Wisconsin State Teachers College at La Crosse. In his senior year, his team won the first Wisconsin state championship.

After college, Bowersock limited his contact with swimming to barking instructions to his YMCA boys’ 12-15 teams, which won three consecutive state championships.

In the ensuing years, he was a lifeguard, a teacher, a counselor and a principal in the Tustin Unified School District from 1960 to 1977.

It wasn’t until after his retirement in 1977, during a motor home trip to Florida with his wife, that he considered a comeback. On a fluke, and with no training behind him, Bowersock entered the Golden Age Olympics.

“I was swimming against Buster Crabbe,” he said in reference to the 1932 Olympic gold medalist in the 400-meter freestyle who later played Buck Rogers and Tarzan on the silver screen. “I beat him. Of course, he was older than me. But that got me fired up. I found out I could beat most of the people in my age group. That’s when I decided to get back into it.”

It wasn’t long until he regained his form, improved his times, won races and set records.

In 1979, he set his first world record in the men’s 65-69 50 free and now has a den full of trophies, medals and certificates. Although he is unsure how many national or world records he has set, three of his world records in the 75-79 age group remain.

“But I’ve aged up since then. Now I’m 80,” he said with a gleam in his eye.

In June, Bowersock, who swims for Long Beach Masters, set eight world records and won seven gold medals--his 200-meter freestyle time from his 400 free victory was recognized as a world mark--in the men’s 80-84 division at the World Senior Sports Classic in Baton Rouge, La.

He takes those credentials into the Southern Pacific Masters’ Assn. Regional long course meters championships this weekend at the Marguerite Swim Complex in Mission Viejo, beginning with tonight’s 1,500 free. Bowersock will swim 10 events, but you won’t find him trying to earn his third Animal Award, a title bestowed upon any swimmer who completes a grueling combination of events: the 400 individual medley, 200 butterfly and the 400, 800 and 1,500 frees.

“I don’t like the 200 fly,” he said. Everything else is fair game. In fact, Bowersock toyed with the idea of taking up track recently, but said, “enough is enough.”

Today, swimming a mile a day, five days a week is enough. Bowersock used to put in twice that yardage, until a heart attack three years ago caused him to slow down.

It should have stopped him. Afterward, doctors told him absolutely, positively no swimming. But Bowersock balked.

“He went out and got a second opinion,” said Vera, his wife of 60 years.

That little inconvenience took three months out of his training, and made Bowersock grumpy. “He doesn’t like to miss his workouts,” Vera said.

But his 1990 setback didn’t compare to his involuntary hiatus during the 1985-86 season, when arthritis curtailed his training for the better part of a year.

“It was so painful, I couldn’t even raise an arm to dress myself,” Bowersock recalled. “They told me to sit in a rocking chair and take my Advil. That’s when I changed doctors.”

One of his proudest accomplishments was swimming in a meet in Tokyo--with only two months of therapy and little training after the long layoff--and taking a gold in the 50 free.

“My time wasn’t that great, but . . . “ he said.

To this day, Bowersock must be careful not to get chilled during or after a workout or a race because of the arthritis. He must be careful not to overdo his training because of the heart attack.

“I have to listen to my body more,” he said. “Sometimes I have to hold back. But in a close race, you can say, ‘There’s no time like the present.’ ”

Sometimes, the rewards are worth the risks. Bowersock credits swimming with helping him stay healthy--physically and mentally.

“You win something and it makes you think, ‘Hey, maybe I’m not over the hill,’ ” he said. “It helps you keep your step up.”

But Vera said vanity is as strong a motivator as anything.

“It’s an ego thing,” she said.

Bowersock admits he doesn’t enjoy finishing second today any more than he did as a younger man.

“I hate to have a guy wax me,” he said.