Tony Ward: 'I try not to think of negative things or mistakes I’ve made in life'
Rugby legend Tony Ward. Pic: Sasko Lazarov
Rugby legend Tony Ward is at home in his apartment in Greystones when he takes my call. The 68-year-old moved to the Wicklow town four years ago and has since become a sea swimming fanatic.
His daily routine typically consists of a long walk and a dip in the ocean.
“I’m very lucky where I live. I’m surrounded by water. I’m originally from Harrold’s Cross in Dublin so we were quite a distance from the sea,” he says.
“The only swimming we would have done back when we were kids was when we would have gone to Dun Laoghaire or Blackrock or somewhere like that so I didn’t have a background in swimming but when I moved down here four years ago, I joined the sea swimming craze.”
Ward has had trouble with his hearing over the last number of years and currently has over 70% hearing loss. But with his hearing aids, the former Ireland international says that loss is at about 30%. “I’d be lost without them [my hearing aids],” he says.
Hearing loss is one of the "two big issues" he has had to deal with in life — the other being his prostate cancer diagnosis in 2012. But, with his new routine, he is feeling good.
- Hidden Hearing ambassador Tony Ward is urging Irish people of all ages to Love Their Ears and stop taking hearing for granted.
I walk every day - I never miss it. And I have an obsession with swimming every day, but I’ve controlled that a little bit more. I swim all year and quite regularly but I’m not quite as obsessive as I was during covid.
I usually go for a walk every day at around 11.30am. It’s about an hour and a quarter. Then when I come back, it would depend on the conditions of the sea and the mood I'm in and I’ll decide whether to go for a swim or not but more often than not, I go.
I drink very little caffeine or alcohol. I don’t eat many sweets because, over the years, I would be prone to put on weight if I didn’t watch myself. I'm conscious of red meat as well.
My absolute guilty pleasure — and it generally comes into play around Christmas — would be chocolate marzipan. I just adore marzipan.
I try not to think of negative things or mistakes I’ve made in life. If I find myself focusing on them, I’ve difficulty getting back to sleep again so I try not to.
I love doing the obvious things; putting up my feet and relaxing and watching TV.
I lived in Leeds in England. My mum was from Dublin, my dad was from England and we lived in Leeds until I was five going on six. [My dad] died very young so we came back to Dublin but it was around the time that Leeds United was becoming the great team they turned out to be throughout the '60s and '70s. Given that I have the Leeds connection, my two heroes were Johnny Giles and Billy Bremner - they were the two midfielders.
I love the smell of garlic. I think people go both ways on that. And freshly cut grass.
Selfishness.
Maybe it’s because my dad died young, but I had a basic shyness and an insecurity that has stayed with me all through life. Because of that, I’ve had low self-esteem and I’ve always had a poor self-image. To sum it up, I’m much too sensitive for my own good.
When I was doing my homework at home in Harrold’s Cross, we used to have a little transistor radio that you could barely hear but Radio Luxembourg was the station everyone used to try to tune into. Every hour on the hour they used to have what was called the Power Play and there was a song by a singer called Les Crane, based on a prayer called Desiderata.
It was written in 1692 and it's as relevant now in 2023 as it was back then which I think is astonishing. That is the one that I have lived my life by.
The John Charles Stand on Elland Road in Leeds. I’m in heaven there. It takes me back to my childhood.
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