Most people look at active older folks and think, “Gee, I hope I’m that way when I’m that age.”

Lawrence resident Deborah Altus looks at her 79-year-old mother and wishes she had her energy now — and she’s 36 years younger than her mother.

“She has an incredibly active life. She never seems to tire,” Altus says of her mother, Grace Thompson Altus of Santa Barbara, Calif. “Even as a kid, I was always amazed by that.”

The elder Altus is a swimmer who didn’t pick up the sport until she was nearly 50. Now, 30 years later, she has competed in swim meets around the world and boasts numerous age-group records.

In 1994, she clocked a world record mile time of 28 minutes, 17 seconds. The record has since been broken, but the honor remains.

Deborah Altus and her sisters were swimmers in their youth. When her mom got interested in the sport, Altus was 12 or 13.

“I thought it was great that she was getting involved in an exercise program and going swimming,” she recalls. “I remember being sort of surprised when she got into competition. I thought that was maybe a little odd at first. As I’ve grown older, I think it’s wonderful.”

Grace Thompson Altus, 79, stands on a beach in Santa Barbara, Calif., where she's lived all her life. Altus, who has set several national and world age-group records in swimming, is the mother of Lawrence resident Deborah Altus.

There are other traits that set the elder Altus apart. Born in 1924, she went to college at a time when women didn’t have many choices beyond getting married and having children. She graduated first in her class at age 20 and went on to earn a doctoral degree at the University of California, Berkeley.

Her husband died in 1986, and though it was difficult, she maintained her eternal optimism and carried on. She volunteers with Meals on Wheels, works as a museum docent and serves meals at a soup kitchen. And she continues to swim.

“She gets excited about growing older because the competition gets a little bit easier every year she grows older,” Deborah Altus says, laughing.

Observing her mother for so many years has taught Altus to be an active but caring mother to her 5-year-old son, Eli.

She tries to exercise every day. She earned a doctoral degree, and she became a mother later than most women (her own mother had her at 37; she gave birth to Eli in her late 30s).

She continues to be inspired by her mother — “Grace-Race-Ace,” as her friends wrote in her 70th birthday card — and to live by her example.

“She was a great mom, very involved. Even though she had a career, she made plenty of time for us,” Altus says. “She’s always kind of marched a bit to a different drummer. If she has a goal, she pursues it, regardless of whether society says that’s right for women to be doing or not.”