One of the first cycling events she did was a World Masters Games competition and that led to a Paralympics berth in Beijing last year.

Now Armstrong will be one of 129 rowers from the ACT competing in the Sydney 2009 World Masters games which start this weekend.

It will only be the 51-year-old's third regatta and her opponent is Beijing Paralympics silver rowing medallist Kathryn Ross.

But she just can't wait.

''As I can only row with my torso and arms, well, I went in my first regatta after eight hours in the water ... it was a bit of a disaster but I've never laughed so hard in my life,'' Armstrong said.

''Eight weeks later I tried another one and managed to keep in a straight line over 1000m.

''It's going to be great to just give it a go.''

The World Masters Games motto is fit, fun and forever young and it's all about including as many people as possible.

There are no restrictions apart from age, with some sports starting as young as 25.

It's clearly a popular event with more than 28,000 people entering that's almost double the amount who compete in an Olympics.

Among them will be 672 Canberrans, with rowing being the most popular sport from the territory with 129 entrants.

Other popular sports are athletics, softball and orienteering where one of Canberra's oldest participants, 85-year-old Hermann Wehner, will compete.

But it would be wrong to think the Games are a purely social affair with more than 200 former Olympians competing in Sydney.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times