Vicksburg residents Bill Seabergh and Charlie Lutz bounced their way into the senior Olympics in Birmingham, Alabama next year.

The duo took home gold in the Mississippi state-qualifying tournament held in Gulfport on May 14 in doubles table tennis. Individually, Lutz took silver in the 65-69 age group while Seabergh also took home silver in the 70-74 age group. However, In order to play as partners, Seabergh played down to Lutz’s competition.

Ideally, the tournament would’ve been setup in round-robin style, but there were only one or two players in each group, except for Seabergh’s age group who had six competitors. Players simply competed against other players and matches against those who happened to be in a competitors group counted toward placing.

Matches were best out of five games and the volume of matches played for Seabergh and Lutz were tiring and consecutive.

“A lot of our doubles matches went to five (games) so it’ll wear you out,” Lutz said.

Competition was stiff for the partners, which made it easier for them to compete.

In the time leading up to the senior Olympics in Alabama, Lutz and Seabergh will continue to train at Westminster Presbyterian Church. There, they meet up with a small group of individuals who engage in the sport on most Monday nights at 6 p.m. Lutz and Brian LaBarre are the coordinators and the group plays to improve their game, enjoy the sport and fellowship.

“A lot of the people we run into play three or four times a week. We can hang in there but nationals is a bit tougher,” Seabergh said.

In Lutz’s case, new competition and their new skillset at the national level would make his time a bit more difficult.

Lutz said spectators would be surprised about the amount of agility needed to play table tennis due to the short bursts of speed used to track down a ball.

Seabergh notices the change in physical activity with the help of his Fitbit fitness tracker. With a resting heart rate of 49 beats per minute and a bpm of 130’s during race-walking, his heart rate can climb up into the 90’s.

“It’s a pretty consistent level, you burn energy pretty good,” Seabergh said.

Outside of playing table tennis, Lutz and Seabergh live active lifestyles. Lutz walks around the lake near his home for its convenience.

“I try to do it at least five times a week plus play ping pong. At my age I need all the help I can get for not getting too carried away,” Lutz said.

“Any activity continuous for 30 minutes is good for you … for any age group,” Seabergh said.  “I think people are realizing that around Mississippi.