Patty Kondub is gearing up for SpinOdyssey this month.

Photo Credit: Jim Gerweck

Patty Kondub, fitness instructor, golf coach, and SpinOdyssey co-chair.

Photo Credit: Contributed

Shelly Kassen, Westport second selectman, joins Kondub at SpinOdyssey.

Photo Credit: Contributed photo

Patty Kondub

Photo Credit: Contributed

Patty Kondub wouldn’t be offended if you told her she was all wet. The longtime aquatic fitness instructor at the Westport/Weston Family Y jokes, “The chlorine from the pool is a preservative -- I am really 90 years old.”

Kondub is nowhere near that old but has spent more than half her life -- 25 years -- at the Y and considers it to be her second family. “Being part of the Y brings me joy and happiness,” she says. “I wish more people could feel the way I do about my job. It’s really not a job, it’s a passion.”

Kondub happened into that passion and family more or less by accident. She was taking a water aerobics course to rehab a knee injury and the woman in charge asked her if she wanted to be an instructor. After reading books and taking classes, Kondub abandoned the corporate world for the Y and never looked back.

Her introduction to her second passion, SpinOdyssey, the stationary cycling cancer fundraiser, was similarly serendipitous. “I was helping clean up after the 2000 event and the next thing I was co-chairing it.” She’s been doing that ever since as it continues to grow in participation and funds each year. “The biggest challenge is keeping it fresh and exciting,” she says. “I never have a problem getting motivated when you see that 100 percent of the money raised goes to research.” This year's event is scheduled for March 6.

As if her days are not full enough, Kondub began coaching the girls golf team at her alma mater, Staples High School, four years ago. “The girls are really committed, so inspiring,” she says. “It was one of the best choices I’ve made in my life.

“People say I’ve changed their lives,” she says. “What could be better than that?”