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American Morning

Interview With Lynn Swann

Aired June 20, 2002 - 08:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: From the art of making movies to the art of physical fitness, that is what they're talking about at the White House. That's where we find Dr. Sanjay Gupta, with more company, from the first lady to one of the finest athletes in the U.S.

Sanjay, you have some fine company with you this morning.

Good morning again.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning, Daryn.

Lynn Swann -- everyone knows who he is, and certainly he is here with us. He is now the chairperson of the President's Council on Fitness and Sports.

Congratulation, sir.

LYNN SWANN: Thank you.

GUPTA: Tell us about the council. What are some of the plans?

SWANN: Well, the plans really are to get together, deliver a strong message to the nation about being physically fit, for children, adults, and senior citizens, and how we can derive so many wonderful benefits just by a little bit of exercise. We want people to make sports and fitness a priority and move in that direction.

GUPTA: You're an athlete, Super Bowl winner. You've been out there. You're demonstrating all this sort of staff. But what about the average Joe out there? How does he get the message of sports into his or her life?

SWANN: I'm glad you brought that up, because we're not trying to make people into professional athletes or gold medal Olympians. What we really Want them to do is just to be healthier, and any kind of exercise will do that. Walking for a half an hour, playing with your kids. The president made the point so well. you know, if you just get up and walk for half an hour, that's good. If you go outside and play with your kids, that's great. It's good for you, it's good for your child, and it's good for your family, because you're all together, and you're exercising together and deriving the benefits.

GUPTA: You've been retired for almost 20 years. Tell us what your physical routine is like now.

SWANN: Well, my exercise routine is probably a bit more than the average. I work out about six days a week, sometimes seven. But usually six. I get up in the morning, do about 45 minutes of cardio, and then three days of the week, after the cardio, I work out with a personal trainer, list weights for about an hour, or I take a pilates class.

I used to dance. I took dancing for about 14 years. I'm on the board of the Pittsburgh ballet theater. And dancing is a wonderful way of exercising. So if you're just out dancing, you're going to get that exercise in.

GUPTA: Hey, we can all do a little bit more of that.

SWANN: Absolutely. I bet you can cut a rug.

GUPTA: Yes, right, and speaking of cutting a rug, what's going on back here?

SWANN: I think that's Denise Austin, who is on the committee, on the council, and she's leading a group of people in aerobic exercises. So we want people to embrace sports, embrace a healthier lifestyle, because the benefits are so important.

We spend almost $270 billion a year on preventable health issues. And we have so many of our kids, over 300,000 children, suffering from obesity. And when you're obese, that increases the chance of heart risk, stroke, diabetes, cancer, pulmonary problems. And if we exercise a little bit more, just think of how healthy, how much stronger we're going to be.

GUPTA: I'm really glad that you're in charge, you're the chairperson of the committee. Lynn Swann, you're going to be a great role model for so many of the nation's youth and a lot of other people.

Daryn and Bill, back to you.

SWANN: Sanjay, it looks like Lynn Swann could go right back on the football field today he's in such great shape.

GUPTA: She's saying you could go right back on the football field today.

SWANN: Absolutely, yes.

GUPTA: Thanks a lot.

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