The intensity, the focus and the love of the game are all still there at age 95 for one St. Petersburg woman.
Each roll of the ball and clang of the pins either exhilarates or disappoints Mini Tvaska.
She started bowling at age 18.
Some 77 years later, Mini Tvaska is on her way to her 67th national championship - a U.S. bowling record.
“Sometimes I’m amazed that I’m 95,” Tvaska said.
Tvaska bowls at least three times a week and has a 114 average.
Bowling is a sport that truly brings her joy.
“Mostly, you know when you go up there and you do something people acknowledge you know you’re living,” Tvaska said, laughing.
Tvaska first started bowling with a 16-pound ball when she barely weighed 100 pounds herself.
Now she uses an 8-pound ball and still throws it with the same vigor.
“But you know, I still have my 16-pound ball," she says. "That was my first ball I ever had.”
She also still has the passion and love for the game she started playing nearly eight decades ago.
Tvaska said her best game is a 232. She used to have a 160 average.
She will be in Reno, Nev., for the national championships on May 21.