Keep yourself moving to stay fit, healthy

Each Tuesday, The Citizen features a health professional from the

Finger Lakes community in The Banks: This week, we spotlight David Hamilton, the aquatic coordinator at the Auburn YMCA.

Q. What is the most rewarding part of your job?

A. Working with the children.

Q. What is the most challenging?

A. I guess it'd be keeping people interested and engaged in whatever activity we're doing.

Q. Describe your ideal workout.

A. In the pool, it'd consist of 10 minutes of balance drills, another 10 minutes of propulsion drills and one to one and a half miles of swimming.

Q. What is the best piece of advice you could give someone to stay healthy?

A. Keep moving, doing whatever, but keep moving.

Q. What's the most common misconception you hear from people in your classes?

A. That if you don't float well then you can't swim well.

Q. What would be your dream job, and where would you be working?

A. It's pretty close to what I'm doing, teaching children and adults to swim well and in a climate warm enough to do it year round outdoors.

Q. For someone considering a career like yours, what advice would you offer?

A. Be willing to volunteer working for the best coach or instructor you can find, and getting some higher education.

Q. What's your ideal cure for the common cold?

A. What I do is make sure I take multi-vitamins and use as little cold medicine as I can stand.

Q. What do you like most about the Finger Lakes?

A. I love the hills and the change of seasons; I love fall the best.

Q. What would people who think they know you be most surprised to find out about you?

A. Probably that I grew up on a farm and was county tractor contest winner three years in a row in Cortland.

David Hamilton

Age: 52

Hometown: Homer

Family: Sons: Ted, 31, and Timothy, 22; daughter, Ellie, 21

Education: Recreation degree from SUNY Cortland

Occupation: Aquatic coordinator and camp director, YMCA-WEIU, 27 William St., Auburn

Hobbies: Playing piano, swimming, reading and NASCAR