Dr Saunders explained that whereas the Olympics has a highly competitive sports focus, the World Masters Games is pitched at sport as a means to enhance one's general health.
However, sports people are always competitive, so compete they do - and fiercely – but perhaps more against themselves than others. Winners are grinners, that's true, but at the World Masters Games, just to compete is being a winner. More importantly, if you beat your best time, you are certainly a winner.
We saw on the television news a 97 year old woman swimmer proudly explaining that she had won 179 medals competing in World Masters Games over many years, and was yearning for that 200th medal. Now there's a winner!
But as Dr Saunders said there were other types of winners as well. She explained that the medical staff of 300 medical personnel understood that good health was the over-riding issue. The pharmacy staff were filling prescriptions faster than Usain Bolt could run the 100 metres at the Beijing Olympics.
Other winners were those people who met World Masters Games swimmer, the Reverend Dr David Smethurst, 65. David Smethurst trained for a short while with the South African Olympic Team in the 1960's. He moved to Australia in 1988.
Swimming for David Smethurst is a means to retain his good health, as well as to expand his world wide Missionary evangelistic campaigns. In recent months, these have taken him to South Africa, Zambia, Holland, USA, England and Scotland, and Latvia.
But it was during these World Masters Games that David Smethurst, when meeting people from across the world, spoke into their hearts the message of Jesus Christ and His Salvation and saw many come before the foot of the Cross of Jesus and give their lives to Him.
In the long line waiting for over five hours for Registration, David managed to put the time to good use by sharing Jesus with a Malaysian badminton player, a younger Australian swimmer, members of a USA women's soccer team and a New Zealand netball team.
During the three hour wait at the marshalling of athletes for the Opening Ceremony, David again put the time to good use. He was able to share the Good News with Lebanese weightlifters, some of the volunteer staff, other swimmers, USA shooters, and an Australian men's soccer team.
Some of these examples included an 85 year old fellow competitor who he met on the board walk who gave his life to Jesus Christ after David Smethurst's one to one evangelism.
Another was a fellow swimmer, whom David met while chatting at the pool after the event, congratulating him on his swim. This man gave his life to Jesus Christ too. At the coffee shop in the Aquatic Centre David met and shared Jesus with three Ukrainian athletes who smiled at David's attempt to share the gospel in Russian.
David says, "I had a really delightful time talking with the great Murray Rose and thanking him for the encouragement he was to me in my early swimming years in South Africa. We were both close to tears as I thanked him for the blessing he had been to me."
Another venue was the shopping precinct, where David Smethurst spoke to a fellow competitor how Jesus Christ changes lives and this man too responded to follow the Lord Jesus.
"My prayer to the Lord was simple. Allow me to meet the people who are ready to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, and on each occasion, they were ready. These people listened with intent and sought out the Salvation Jesus Christ offers," David Smethurst explained.
David discovered that many of these World Masters Games athletes had previously had witness in their own home situations, but with his whimsical charm, he enabled them to find this time as the right time to make that step of personal repentance and seeking the Lord's forgiveness.
"I had the privilege of being the catalyst - the vehicle through which the Holy Spirit revealed Himself in the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ." David Smethurst explained.
"The World Masters Games for me was indeed about trying my best to win in swimming, but a far greater prize was being the conduit through which many, many came to Christ."