The American will line up in next year’s New Zealand Masters Games in Dunedin and is eagerly looking forward to the event.
He was one of the first registered and is fighting fit after health issues in recent years.
Walker (77), who hails from Redlands in California, just south of Los Angeles, has competed in Masters Games all round the world and shows no sign of slowing down.
The New Zealand Masters Games, sponsored by the Otago Daily Times, has early bird-registration open until November 30, and competitors are urged to get in quickly.
It will be Walker’s first trip to the Games in Dunedin but he has been to nearly 50 Masters Games around the world.
"In 2010 I had to go on warfarin for the rest of my life because I was found to carry the factor five leiden gene, which causes me to have blood clots," he said.
"I had four major clots, and the last one just about killed me. The impact of warfarin was devastating because that meant that I had to give up cycling. I was a long-distance rider and had made two trips across America from Los Angeles to Boston.
"I asked the doctor what sport would be safe and he said swimming. So the next week, I was in the water trying to figure out how to swim laps. In time I got hitched up with a masters team, and started competing in 2012. I found that I loved swimming even more than cycling."
He has competed in 41 states in the United States and at the Australian Masters Games in Tasmania last month.
This year he has been slowed down by cancer surgeries but has been declared cancer free and is able to compete.
He lined up at the New Zealand Masters Games at Whanganui last year and cannot wait to arrive in Dunedin early next year.
"I swam at Whanganui last year and that meet stands out as one of the friendliest meets of my career, and I would like to repeat the experience in Dunedin."
Walker will line up in seven swim events at Moana Pool and is keen to make plenty of friends.
