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5 Jan 2010 09:07:06
Geoff Tilford knows a thing or two about life – at 55, the mature student at the University of Bedfordshire is three times the age of some of his peers.
The champion canoeist is preparing to start the second term of a degree course in BA (Hons) Sport and Community Leadership.
His previous work experience included building and designing airships and more recently as a construction site manager.
He said: “I had been unemployed for about a year and also didn’t want to work away from home for long spells again. So I decided to do something different.”
Geoff, who cycles to the Bedford campus each day from his home, moved to Blunham in Bedfordshire in the mid 1980s.
Now living in Wilstead with partner Viv, the couple have five children between them but all have moved away from home. Geoff’s son Adam and daughter Chloe both went to university and have completed degree courses.
Geoff said: “My children are older than most of the students I’m now studying with but that’s not a problem. In fact, I’m older than most of the lecturers as well!
“I’m enjoying the course and it has challenged me as I was never particularly academic and didn’t have the opportunity to go to university when I was younger.
“I don’t think of myself as being 55 and I’m probably as fit as a lot of the other students. I’ve a bit more experience of life too.”
He has been a canoeist for the last four decades and was up to international standard in his younger days.
After initially competing at the junior world championships in 1971, he represented Great Britain for four years (1972-75) and only injury denied him a place at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.
After a few years’ hiatus, he returned to race in Masters events and in the last decade he raced twice at the world masters (marathon) championships finishing sixth in Gyor, Hungary, and fourth in Stockton-on-Tees when the UK hosted the championships. He has also won national masters (sprint and marathon) titles in K1 and K2 (kayak single/double).
Geoff is club captain of the Bedford-based Viking Kayak Club and has organised several national canoeing events in the town.
He first became involved with the University last summer when he came in for expedition testing in the science labs in preparation for the final leg of the Big 5 Kayak Challenge.
This was a supreme test of endurance as the paddlers journeyed from Vancouver in Canada to the frozen wastes of Alaska, averaging 35 miles daily for 30 days.
The initial visit included immersion testing in simulated glacier waters and also included use of Ultrasound techniques on heart function and performance as well as conventional fitness and performance testing.
Geoff said: “It got me interested in the University and obviously I’m very involved with the canoe club and community sport. I was thinking about doing the degree and then decided to go for it at the last minute.
“It was a big decision at my age but the course is not necessarily about youth. The degree is about getting the whole spectrum of the community involved with sport.”
The Sport and Community Leadership course involves topics such as sports science, sports psychology, the impact and relevance of sport on society, and issues like community activity and engagement in sport.
Course leader Dr Paul Beedie said: “Geoff is a pleasure to work with and a credit to the Sport and Community Leadership course. He is very dedicated and a superb role model to the younger students in the group in terms of his work ethic and depth of experience in community based sports.
“Geoff is a true adventurer in that, at a time in life when many of his contemporaries might be checking out the pipe and carpet slippers, he continues to seek out the next challenge, and he does so with a smile on his face.”
Latest news» 2010» January» Mature student Geoff is leading by example
