“It’s really a combination of team and family,” says coach Oliver Foote (Foo-tay). “Just like families, sometimes everybody feuds with one another, but at the end of the day, we all still love one another.”
Foote is not a pro coach though, for over 30 years, he has been at the helm of a very special team. He is the head coach of Harlem’s Honeys and Bears Synchronized Senior Swim Team. The team has been sashaying in the water at their home base, the Hansborough Pool on W. 134th Street since 1979.
As that building is being refurbished until March, the Milbank Pool on W. 118th Street is their pool away from home. The president of the team is a youngster of 65. “I’ve been president for 10 months,” states Carrie See Yuen.
“We have about 25 members with ages between 65 and 91.” On this sunny October morning, the group, which works out Mondays and Wednesdays for two hours, loosens up in the water to a thumping Mary J. Blige track.
“I heard your energy when I was downstairs,” states Coach Foote as the group laughs. It’s time to work, but for a reason. “Every single time I jump in the pool, I feel like a kid again,” reveals See Yuen. “It’s just such a great exercise. I don’t find anything else that just gives me so much lift. I enjoy just the purity of friendship, and it was just fun.”
While Foote barks out his orders for all the aquatic females (no men today) for their formations, the group is all on the same page. “We come here, we bond, we fight, we love, we dance, we do everything …we float,” chuckles Barbara Bison-White, an 18-year vet of the Honeys and Bears who turns 90 in December. The team is the draw that brings her into the water. “It’s healthy. It’s wonderful.
“I was in the hospital four times in the last month, and I wasn’t coming today, but the water is therapeutic.” Former 20-year correction officer Debra Preston knows what this group means to her, and she passes the message on to others of a certain age.
“Just get in the water,” exclaims Preston, a vibrant 71. “Water is everything. I will be in water the rest of my life as long as I can. It has done me good. I went down two dress sizes. My health is better. I eat better as a result of it.
“I live in Brooklyn. It takes me an hour and 15 minutes to get here by subway. Is it worth it? Yes, it is!”
Velma Elaine Goldwire, 74, is a Columbia grad, a former social worker, and a breast cancer survivor who never slowed her drive. She had her surgery and went through chemo and radiation treatments back in April 2017. Less than two months later, she was back in the water.
“Right now, I’m in training for the Senior Games which is gonna be in June,” says the bubbly Goldwire. “I’ve qualified for Nationals, but I’ve never gone. The Nationals are going to be in Oklahoma City in 2027.”
She plans to be there. Besides the synchronized swimming, Goldwire and Preston are veteran Senior Games participants. Preston has captured many medals in the 50 (bronze), 100 (silver), and 200 (gold), among others. Though “the backstroke is my favorite.”
Goldwire has racked up medals since 2016 in the 50-yard butterfly (gold), 100 IM (silver), and two bronze in the 50-yard and 100-yard breaststroke. She has a total of 15. For all that the team has accomplished, Coach Foote has another goal for the team. He wants them to “enjoy the rest of their lives.”
The team works hard while it grieves over the loss of Luther Gales, their long-time beloved assistant coach, who recently passed. “I enjoy the energy that I give them, and I enjoy the energy that they give me,” points out Foote. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but with these Harlem Honeys and Bears.
“These are my peeps.”
Harlem’s Honeys and Bears annual fundraiser is New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, December 31, 12-5 p.m. at Alhambra Ballroom, 2116 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. For ticket info, call 646-808-4123 (Luther) or 917-227-2639 (Zelle).