My search proved successful because I uncovered the glossy image that I was looking for, one that likely hadn’t seen the light of day in decades. On the back was scribbled where the photograph originated — the University of Rochester men’s swim team — as well as the name belonging to the smiling face on the front.

My first thought was, “Wow, Jeff Barkstrom hasn’t aged one bit.”

To confirm that opinion, I went to my cellphone and found the photo I took of the 1985 Jamestown High School graduate at the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame picnic last month.

Standing in front of a CSHOF “step and repeat” banner on the patio at the Lakewood Rod & Gun Club, Barkstrom, 58, held a plaque congratulating him on swimming to six gold medals at this year’s Empire State Senior Games.

JEFF BARKSTROM File photo courtesy of the University of Rochester

As it’s turned out, the Jamestown resident was just getting started on his medal-winning quest.

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The 2025 National Senior Games were held earlier this summer in Des Moines, Iowa. When they ended, athletes from New York accounted for 125 medals (53 gold, 40 silver and 32 bronze) and Barkstrom was responsible for two of them — a gold in the 50-yard breaststroke and a bronze in the 50-yard freestyle.

That’s especially impressive considering Barkstrom was diagnosed with lyme disease just two weeks prior.

“I didn’t know if I was going to go because I felt so terrible,” he said.

As it turned out, his decision to head west was the correct one.

Originally planning to swim in four events in the 55-59 age group, Barkstrom opted for the two shorter distances and acquitted himself well, posting a winning time of 33.33 seconds in the 50 breaststroke and a third-place finish in 26.09 seconds in the 50 freestyle.

“I finished (the breaststroke) and I thought I beat the guy, but then I asked my daughter and she said, ‘No, he won,’ but when the official (times) came out, I did beat him. So I was (alternately) very happy, then I was unhappy and then I was happy again.”

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When Barkstrom was asked who had impacted his successful return to the pool, he credited his Masters teammates as well as his former coaches, including the legendary Bill Rollinger, whose career leading the JHS program helped earn him induction into the CSHOF in 1996.

“I didn’t realize it at the time, but he was my ‘torturer’ in high school,” Barkstrom said with a laugh. “It took a number of years to get over that opinion.”

Barkstrom’s countenance at the Lakewood Rod & Gun Club a couple weeks ago, however, mirrored the smile he displayed on the photo, courtesy of the University of Rochester, that arrived on the P-J sports desk 40 years ago.

Of course, collecting medals at the biggest senior age-group competition in the United States will have a tendency to make you feel that way.