Florida Senior Games Athletes Earn Top Medal Winning Status at 2025 National Senior Games
It’s official, for the third consecutive National Senior Games, the Florida athletes have topped the list of medal winners by State.
At the 2025 National Senior Games, held in Des Moines, Iowa, July 24-August 4, Florida athletes totaled 506 medals, coming in ahead of California with 415, North Carolina with 393, Ohio with 392 and Texas with 362.
Florida also led the way with a total of 713 athletes competing in the 2025 National Senior Games.
Florida athletes will be back in action at the 2025 Florida Senior Games, held in Florida’s Sports Coast/Pasco County. December 6-14, 2025. Registration is now open at www.floridaseniorgames.com, through November 15.
Highlights from the 2025 National Senior Games follows.
Florida Basketball Teams Make a Statement
There was plenty of Basketball played at the Prairie View Sports Complex over six days at the 2025 National Senior Games. Florida was well represented as three teams claimed the top of the medal stand winning gold medals.
The GZR Men’s 60+ team (pictured at left), the Villages Seabreeze Women’s 65+ team and the Clearwater Aces 80+ team won gold while the Broward Heat Women’s 65+ team earned a bronze medal.
Undefeated over the last four years of Florida Senior Games competition, GZR Basketball continued its undefeated ways at the National Senior Games. The team won six of its seven games by double digits en route to its first National Gold Medal. The only single digit win came in the Championship Game, 46-38, against the Roadrunners from New Mexico.
GZR Basketball won bronze medals in 2022 and 2023.
The Clearwater Aces have been a fixture in the Florida Senior Games and National Senior Games since 1999 and turned in a “Three Peat,” at the 2025 National Senior Games with their third consecutive gold medal. The Aces also went undefeated in seven games and got stronger as they advanced.
In their first four games, the Aces won by an average of 23 points and turned it up in their last three with wins by an average of 44 points. The Aces scored 80 points in a win against the Threshers, from Illinois. They defeated Detroit Metro 49-24 in the championship game.
The Villages Seabreeze caught fire in bracket play to win the Division 2 Gold Medal of the Women’s 60+ Division. After going 2-2 in pool play, the Seabreeze won their three bracket play games for the gold medal. They defeated the Get Along Gals, from Illinois, 45-19, in the Championship Game.
With nine players on their roster, the Seabreeze wore down opponents with full team substitutions, using three rounds of three players at a time.
Harry Carothers Brings Basketball Shooting Skills to National Games
With dozens of medal-winning performances over the years at the Florida Senior Games, Harry Carothers, of Pinellas Park, made his national debut at the 2025 National Senior Games. Carothers won the 80+ Free Throw Shooting and 3-Point Shooting events. Carothers sunk 24 of 25 for free throws and hit 11 of 15 for 3-pointers. “This was the first time ever for basketball shooting competitions at the National Senior Games, so I had to wait patiently until I was 82 years old to compete,” Carothers said. “It was a fun week.”
Run, Janet Lamoureaux, Run!
Lakeland’s Janet Lamoureux hit the Des Moines ground running upon her arrival at the 2025 National Senior Games. In the Games first event, the 5K Road Race, she won a 60-64 age group bronze medal, with a time of 23:00.997. She won a silver medal in the 1 Mile Run, circling the Iowa State Capitol, in 6:26.443. Finally, she ran the 10K Road Race, in 53:42.79.
“I just jogged the 10K,” she said. “I went all out in the first two races. I’ve got track and field events coming up I’m saving up for next week.”
Her strategy worked. She smashed the 1500M Power Walk record with a time of 8:58.69, topping the previous record by 38 seconds. It was also the fastest female time of any age group. She also took gold on the 5K Power Walk, and was the top female finisher with a time of 34:15.64. Topping it off, she won a bronze medal in pole vault in only her fifth competition.
Florida Swimmers Win Medals and Set Records
Florida swimmers continued to show their excellence in the pool at the 2025 National Senior Games. The 30 registered swimmers combined to win a total of 39 medals over three days of competition.
In the last two National Senior Games, 2023 and 2025, there has been no better swimmer in backstroke events than Linda Fulton, of Celebration.
Fulton set new National Senior Games records in the 70-74 age group, in the 50 and 200 yard backstroke events and narrowly missed setting a new record in the 100 yard backstroke. In those events, she either broke, or almost broke, her own records.
She has the top two times in the 70-74 age group 50, 100 and 200 yard backstroke events in the history of the National Senior Games, times she recorded in 2023 and 2025.
Fulton also broke her own record in the 50 yard butterfly with a time of 35.33, her final event Sunday. Her gold medal-winning performance came at the slightest of margins as she topped the silver medalist, who touched the pad with a time of 35.55.
Besides her excellence in the backstroke in the National Senior Games, Fulton holds four backstroke records in the 65-69 and 70-74 age groups, and eight total records in the Florida Senior Games. She was named the 2022 Florida Senior Games Female Athlete of the Year.
Other standout Florida swimmers included, Michael Aubrey, of Wilton Manors, who won five gold medals in the 55-59 age group, and Nancy Nevid, of Sarasota, who won five gold medals and a silver in the 70-74 age group.
Aubrey posted new records in the 60-64 age group in the 50 and 100 yard breaststroke events. He holds the Florida Senior Games records in the 55-59 and 60-64 age groups in the 50, 100 and 200 yard breaststroke and a total of 10 Florida Senior Games age group records.
Nevid had record-setting performances in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle. All totaled, Florida swimmers won 39 medals over days in the Wellmark YMCA pool (23 gold, 12 silver, 4 bronze).
Florida Claims Fastest Women at NSG
In the Olympic Games, gold-medal winning sprinters in the 100-meter dash are deemed to be the “Fastest Man and Woman in the World.”
The results from the 2025 National Senior Games show it’s a pretty good bet Florida boasts the “Fastest 50 and Over Women in the U.S.”
Andrea Collier, of Orlando, and Johnnie Reid, of Naples, posted the fastest times of all women in the 50- and 100-meter dashes.
Collier ran the overall top 100-meter dash time in 13.57 seconds, for the 55-59 age group gold medal. Reid posted a time of 13.60, to win the 60-64 age group gold medal. In the 50-meter dash, Reid ran a 7.23 and Collier had a time of 7.40 for gold medals. Collier added a third gold medal with a time of 28.68 in the 200-meter dash.
Florida Senior Games Athletes of the Year Shine at National Senior Games
There were 15 former Florida Senior Games Athletes of the Year competing at the 2025 National Senior Games. They showed the country why they were chosen as one of Florida’s top Senior Games athletes. See the breakdown of their medal-winning performances.
Patricia Benitez, Orlando, 2023, Table Tennis, 60-64 age group
Silver Medal, Mixed Doubles 65-69, with Ricardo Abril
Bronze Medal, Women’s Doubles 65-69, with Lisa Huang
Bronze Medal, Women’s Singles 65-69
Harry Carothers, Pinellas Park, 2004, Basketball, 80-84 age group
Gold Medal with Clearwater Aces, 80+ Age Group
Gold Medal, Basketball Skills, Free Throw Shooting, 80-84 age group
Gold Medal, Basketball Skills, Three-Point Shooting, 80-84 age group
Madeline Cazel, The Villages, 2003, Track and Field, 85-89 age group
Gold Medal, Women’s Discus – 85-89, 57’3.40”
Silver Medal, Women’s Javelin – 85-89
Silver Medal, Women’s Long Jump – 85-89
Silver Medal Women’s Shot Put – 85-89
Bronze Medal, Women’s 50 Meter Dash – 85-89
Andrea Collier, Orlando, 2021, Track and Field, 55-59 age group
Gold Medal, 100-meter dash, 13.57 seconds
Gold Medal, 50-meter dash
Gold Medal, 200-meter dash.
Robert Cseh, Port St. Lucie, 2023, Powerlifting, 85-89 age group
Gold Medal, Men’s Bench Press 90-94, 170 lbs
Linda Fulton, Celebration, 2022, Swimming, 70-74 age group
Gold Medal, Women’s 50 Butterfly – 70-74, 35.33 (New NSGA Age Group Record)
Gold Medal, Women’s 50 Back – 70-74, 36.08 (New NSGA Age Group Record)
Gold Medal, Women’s 100 Back – 70-74
Gold Medal, Women’s 200 Back – 70-74, 2:52.31 (New NSGA Age Group Record)
Silver Medal, Women’s 50 Free – 70-74
Bronze Medal, Women’s 200 Free – 70-74
Sandra Garner, Daytona Beach, 2020, Volleyball, 65-69 age group
Gold Medal, Beach Volleyball, Womens 2 x 2 65+, with Kim Watson
Gold Medal, Get Over It, Volleyball, 60+ Silver Division
Patrice Hirr, The Villages, 2009, Swimming, 75-79 age group
Gold Medal, Women’s 50 Butterfly – 75-79
Silver Medal, Women’s 50 Breast – 75-79
Silver Medal, Women’s 100 Breast – 75-79
Silver Medal, Women’s 200 Breast – 75-79
Silver Medal, Women’s 100 IM – 75-79
Silver Medal, Women’s 50 Free – 75-79
Deborah Harrison, The Villages, 2018, Pickleball, 75-79 group
Silver Medal, Women’s Doubles 75-79, Division 1, 4.5+, with Ruth Weil
Tobias Kaye, Boca Raton, 2021, Pickleball, 70-74 age group
Gold Medal, Men’s Doubles 70-74, Division 1, 4.5+, with Rick Owen
Ethel Lehmann, Largo, 1997, Track and Field, 95-99 age group
Gold Medal, Women’s 50 Meter Dash – 95-99
Gold Medal, Women’s 100 Meter Dash – 95-99
Gold Medal, Women’s 200 Meter Dash – 95-99
Gold Medal, Women’s 400 Meter Run – 95-99
Gold Medal, Women’s 800 Meter Run – 95-99
Gold Medal, Women’s Discus – 95-99
Gold Medal, Women’s Javelin – 95-99
Gold Medal, Women’s Long Jump – 95-99
Gold Medal, Women’s Shot Put – 95-99
Gold Medal, Women’s Triple Jump – 95-99
Peggy Peck, The Villages, 2019, Basketball, Track and Field, 70-74 age group
Gold Medal, Villages Seabreeze Basketball, Division 2, 65-69 age group
Silver Medal, Women’s High Jump – 70-74
Silver Medal, Women’s Triple Jump – 70-74
John Shultz, Sarasota, 2009, Table Tennis, 85-89 age group
Silver Medal, Men’s Singles, 85-89 age group
Bronze Medal, Men’s Doubles, 85-89 age group with Jarel Duerksen
EJ Tarpey, Vero Beach, 2022, Basketball, 60-64 age group
Gold Medal, GZR Basketball
Avis Vaught, The Villages, 2010, Softball, Track and Field, 75-79 age group
Gold Medal, Golden Players Softball, 75+
Silver Medal, Women’s Discus, 75-79 age group
CLICK HERE for the full listing of Florida Senior Games Medalists at the 2025 National Senior Games.
The Florida Senior Games is an annual program of the Florida Sports Foundation, the official sports promotion and development organization of the State of Florida, presented in conjunction with Florida’s Sports Coast/Pasco County.