Athletes from five different decades of life turned in inspiring performances Sunday at the 2025 Florida Senior Games.
Athletes at the 34th Annual Florida Senior Games range in age from 50 to 96. Take a look at a sample of accomplishments from athletes in 10-year age ranges on Day Two of Nine at the Florida Senior Games, in Florida’s Sports Coast/Pasco County.
Karla Antonio, from Stuart, won a pair of Cycling Time Trials gold medals, with the top overall women’s times in the 5K and 10K events. She set a new record in the 10K Trials with a time of 13:55, topping the previous record by 12 seconds. She also won the 55-59 5K gold medal with a time of 6:59. Antonio is the record holder in the 50-54 age group in both events.
“I just started cycling four or five years ago,” Antonio said. “I was a competitive runner for 40 years from the time I was 13, through high school and college at Drake University, until injuries forced me to stop.”
Antonio (pictured at right) also won three gold medals at the 2025 National Senior Games. She will compete in the 20K Road Race next Sunday.
Michael Aubrey, of Wilton Manors, completed his five gold medals in five events sweep Sunday in the 60-64 age group. Over two days at the Temple Terrace Aquatic Center, Aubrey touched the finish pad first in the 50 and 100 butterfly and the 50 100 and 200 breaststroke.
“I was swimming just for fun today,” he said. “I’ll be 65 next year and can start setting records in that age group.”
Aubrey holds 10 age group records in the 55-59 and 60-64 age group, including both age group records in the 50, 100 and 200 yard breaststroke.
Avis Vaught began her two weekends of competition Sunday as a member of the 65-69 age group Just for Fun Volleyball team, playing down in a younger age group. She will compete in six field events in the 75-79 age group on Saturday.
The Just for Fun team, which consisted of all deaf athletes, won the silver medal in the 65-69 age group. The idea for the team was spawned after the 2023 Florida Senior Games Softball Championships which featured the Deaf Divas team.
“A couple of those team members contacted me about playing another sport, so I suggested volleyball and they all agreed,” Vaught said. “After today, they all said they wanted to come back. I told them if that’s the case, we need to practice more.”
Vaught, the 2010 Florida Senior Games Female Athlete of the Year, has also competed this year in The 2025 Villages Senior Games (April), the National Senior Games (July), the Huntsman World Games (October), several softball tournaments, and served as the Florida Senior Games Softball Championships Sport Director in September.
The Iron Horse (salute to Lou Gehrig) of the Florida Senior Games, John Shultz, of Sarasota, turned in his 33rd consecutive medal winning performance. He won the men’s singles and a men’s doubles gold medal, in the 85-89 age group, at The Long Center.
Shultz, the 2009 Florida Senior Games Male Athlete of the Year, is documented as winning a medal in each of the last 33 years, the longest streak of any athlete in the history of the Games. He claims to have won a medal in the first Florida Senior Games of 1992, but there are no records to confirm the fact.
Since 1993, Shultz (pictured in banner photo) has won 39 gold medals, including 20 singles gold medals. He won silver and bronze medal at the 2025 National Senior Games.
Deane Chickering, of The Villages, won the men’s singles gold medal in the 90-94 age group and teamed with Shultz to win the 85-89 men’s doubles gold medals. It was the 13th gold medal, dating back to 2008, for Chickering and Shultz (Pictured Above).
“Playing table tennis keeps me up and moving and has kept me alive for 91 years,” he said.
Also worth noting for a 90+ athlete is Baerbel Bartyczak’s pair of golds in the Cycling Time Trials. She became the first 90-94 age group athlete to compete in the races, therefore setting records with her time of 14:04 in the 5K and 28:42 in the 10K.
Over the weekend, over 650 athletes competed in nine sports. The Games continue Monday with Golf at the Plantation Palms Golf Course and the first day of Men’s and Women’s Doubles Tennis at the Saddlebrook Resort.