51-year-old father of two overcame heart valve surgery on his road to athletic success
There are times when overcoming life challenges can spur an athlete to greater heights, with adversity serving as motivation to achieve success.
That’s been the story for 51-year-old Sebastopol tennis player Kent Talcott for the past six years, a span that included a harrowing journey that ultimately ended in personal victory.
Talcott, who was diagnosed with a heart murmur while playing multiple sports in high school, rekindled his love for tennis in 2012 when he began playing in low level “beer league” tournaments where he was modestly successful.
“I started playing tennis again as a way to stay active and get some exercise,” he recalled. “The more I played the more the competitive juices began to flow.”
But Talcott’s life would take a sudden turn four years ago when at the age of 47 he began to notice a dramatic loss in stamina, progressing to the point where he couldn’t perform even the most modest daily activities.
“I was becoming a very competitive player and all of a sudden I couldn’t walk 400 feet,” he said.
Doctors identified the problem as aortic stinosis, a life-threatening affliction that is a thickening of the aortic valve and can lead to a catastrophic aneurysm. After undergoing a successful valve replacement, Talcott began the long road to recovery.
“During my recovery from surgery I was expecting to immediately become a supercharged version of my prior self,” Talcott said. “My unrealistic expectations and initial disappointment motivated me to scour the internet looking for stories of other people recovering from heart surgery who were able to go back to some level of athletic activity, but there were simply very few stories like mine.”
The father of two began a dedicated weight-training regimen and improved diet that would reduce his weight from 250 to 175 pounds, restoring both strength and stamina. Talcott hooked up with Sonoma State tennis coach Joaquin Lopez, who helped take his game to another level in competitive tennis.
Talcott began to excel on the USTA over 50 men’s 3.5 tournament circuit, making a steady rise in the ranks that eventually led to a third place finish in the NorCal tourney last fall and a qualifying spot in the National Tennis Championships in Naples, Fla., in April. There, he steamrolled the competition, dropping just one set (in the semifinals) before going on to capture the tournament championship.
“It was one of those weekends that everything just came together,” he said.
After overcoming daunting obstacles on and off the court, Talcott is showing no signs of complacency, hoping his journey will help similarly afflicted people.
“I’m hoping my story (in print and searchable on the internet) may provide someone in my position with hope or comfort in knowing that heart valve replacement surgery can carry a great prognosis for the aging weekend warrior,” he noted. “
