At age 93, Lenore Groundwater is still adding to her resume. A fishing outing with her family Saturday in Valdez made her the queen of the Valdez Women's Silver Salmon Derby and a budding YouTube star.
Groundwater, who lives in a retirement home in Green Valley, Ariz., reeled in a 16.58-pound silver -- her son netted the fish, but all involved say Lenore hooked it and reeled it in -- to win the one-day derby.
She topped a field of 789 to win $1,000 plus a bunch of prizes, including the silver tiara annually awarded to the winner of the popular just-for-women derby, now in its seventh year. The tiara matches Groundwater's silver hair -- and her fish, for that matter.
"Somebody called me a silver belle," she said in a phone interview.
Groundwater drew laughs, cheers and applause at the awards ceremony when she was crowned queen of the derby Saturday night at the Valdez Civic Center, a moment captured in a three-minute video that is at once charming and hilarious.
The tiara on her head and a bottle of water in one hand, Groundwater sat on a makeshift throne in front of a lively crowd of 500 as emcee Laurie Prax of KVAK Radio interviewed her.
Asked if she was enjoying the attention, she replied, "Well, it's probably not helping my high blood pressure."
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