Every Wednesday at 9:45 a.m., students sink into the pool at the South Arlington YMCA for a water aerobics workout filled with movement, weights and plenty of cheers.
The class is open to all ages, but the oldest person at the pool isn’t in the water. She’s leading the workout.
“I am 94 years old,” Samantha said.
And retirement? Not yet.
“Not retired. Still going,” she said.
Water has been a theme throughout Samantha’s life.
“I lived in the water. My mother knew where I was all the time, in the water,” she said.
She eventually made a career of it. At 18, Samantha worked as a mermaid at Weeki Wachee Aquatic Theater in Florida.
“She is a mermaid. You know that she worked at Weeki Wachee,” one woman in the class said.
Old photographs and postcards offer glimpses of Samantha’s days performing underwater.
Her time in the spotlight didn’t end with her days as a mermaid. Looking at an old newspaper clipping, Samantha recalled receiving media attention years later.
“And I was 81 years old. They thought I was old then,” she said, laughing.
Now, at 94, it’s her energy that gets people’s attention.
“You see some people that are a lot younger wobbling, and she walks in here spry, full of energy,” one woman said. “She’s an inspiration. If she can do it, hey, maybe I can too.”
Another student agreed.
“It’s kind of motivating to watch a 94-year-old lady have the strength and courage to come every week,” he said.
For Samantha, getting people moving is about more than exercise.
“My ministry is just showing them that they can do it,” she said.
Week after week, she keeps the class moving, jogging and lifting their knees through the water.
Samantha wants her students to see age as just a number.
“So I don’t lack anything being 94 years old, and you can do the same thing,” she said.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication.