Patsy Stone Howard is like the Energizer bunny -- she just keeps going and going.

The fact that she turned 70 last month is barely noticed as Mrs. Howard continues to live life to the maximum.

Typically, her week includes two aerobic dancing classes, one Middle Eastern dance class, games of tennis, and walks of several miles a day -- all in addition to the regular aspects of daily living.

But then, the petite dynamo has been sporty all her life -- thanks largely to a father who was not only a fine soccer player but also encouraged both his daughters to be good sportswomen.

Mrs. Howard's earliest memory of her involvement in sport was at age seven or eight when she took part in a cross-country race while a student at Warwick Academy.

"I remember my father riding alongside me on his bicycle saying, `Go on, you can do it','' Mrs. Howard smiles.

Little did she realise then that that early effort would eventually lead to greater glory on the track, about which more presently.

Meanwhile, how she got into Warwick Academy is a story in itself.

"The headmaster, Mr. Welch, used to pass by our house every day, and one day when I was four years old I asked him if I could go to his school,'' Mrs.

Howard relates. "In those days Warwick had no kindergarten, so he said if it was all right with my mother it was all right with him.'' Somehow, the spunky kid never got around to asking her mother, but she did secure the consent of a neighbourhood boy a few years older than herself to escort her to school.

Sure enough, the very next morning, with little Patsy hiding under the kitchen table, the boy turned up to collect her, and with no opposition from her mother she duly took her place in Form I, where she was given some paper and work to do.

The child never looked back and, in addition to being a good student, she went on to blossom as a runner -- so much so, in fact, that she ultimately qualified for the 1948 Olympics in London, England, the first after the Second World War.

"A group of us trained under D.J. Williams at the BAA field, and three qualified in the time trials for the 100 metres track: Phyllis Edness, who came first; Phyllis Lightbourn who came second, and myself who came third.

"All of us met the official qualifying time, but because funds were short Bermuda could only send two, which meant I was the alternate. As it turned out, at the Olympics Miss Edness couldn't run, so had I gone I could have run.'' If that was a disappointment, at least young Patsy Stone had other strings to her sporting bow.

Just into her teens when she successfully begged her father to buy her a tennis racquet because the family lived close to the Tennis Stadium, Mrs.

Howard then spent countless hours hitting balls against the backboard.

"I taught myself to play, and I won the Junior Tournament that year when I was about 13 or 14, never having had a lesson,'' she recalls.

At that time Mrs. Peggy Welch Sinclair was the pro at the Stadium and, recognising the teenager's potential, offered to give her lessons -- a move which Mrs. Howard credits with all of the successes that followed.

"It was the best thing that ever happened to me,'' she says. "Peggy taught me the correct grip and great strokes, including the forehand which is my specialty, and I have always been thankful to her for that. When she stopped teaching I took lessons from Hank Quinn, the pro at Coral Beach Club, who was also a good influence.'' Much later, Mrs. Sinclair would be the matron of honour at Mrs. Howard's 1955 wedding.

Meanwhile, at age 16 her mentor sent the talented teen off to the United States to join Mrs. Sinclair's cousins playing in junior tournaments.

"Peggy's mother coached the Junior Wightman Cup players from the Pennsylvania area, so I got to practice with them and play in junior tournaments,'' Mrs.

Howard says. "It was the first time I had left Bermuda, and it was all very different. I stayed in the US all summer.'' The experience proved so invaluable that the young Bermudian returned home the winner of the Atlantic Coast Junior Doubles title.

"It was a pretty big tournament,'' she notes "but then, you remember the wins, not the losses!'' By now a student at the Bermuda High School for Girls, Mrs. Howard recalls the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association sponsoring a major annual tournament here in which some of the biggest names in the game from the US, Canada and Europe competed.

"I used to beg my mother to let me have a week off from school to be there, and in the regular draw I got to play with people like Doris Hart and Sylvia Knowles, as well as Vic Sexias in the mixed doubles. It was a good experience at age 16.'' Even after her school days ended and she became a secretary, Mrs. Howard never dropped her tennis. Teaming up with another fine Bermudian player, the then-Heather Nichols, the duo played the Eastern US grass court tennis circuit, and reached the finals of the US Nationals (now known as the US Open).

"I always say I played against the best in the world and lost,'' she laughs.

"That was quite an experience, and years later Heather reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon.'' In fact, Mrs. Howard's participation was thanks to a group of local benefactors led by Sir Harry Butterfield. On learning that she could not afford the trip, he canvassed five of his friends, and together they made the journey possible.

Asked what she regards as her finest tennis hour, Mrs. Howard says it was undoubtedly a doubles match she played with her sister and well-known tennis player, Debbie Stone Harper (who, incidentally, also took the singles title).

"My father wanted us to play doubles at the Coral Beach Invitational,'' she recalls. "The first year we got to the quarter finals, the second year we got to the semi-finals, and then my father died in 1975, so we said, `Let's win this for daddy,' and we did. After that we rested on our laurels.'' Mrs. Howard's athletic resume m also includes swimming, water ballet, aerobic dancing and Middle Eastern dancing, popularly known as belly dancing.

Swimming laps at the Mount Langton pool coached by Bill Brooks turned into races which were open to all comers, irrespective of age. Swimming against older competitors, the 13-year-old took home the 50 yards breast stroke championship trophy.

In addition to the competitive swimming at the Mount Langton pool on Friday nights, Mrs. Howard also took part in water ballet demonstrations under the tutelage of Ross and Corinne Doe at the same venue.

"We wore black elastic bathing suits with red hibiscus in our hair and did these wonderfully intricate patterns,'' Mrs. Howard recalls. "It was great fun.'' The water ballet group also travelled to the indoor pool at the St. George's Hotel to perform, and Mrs. Howard recalls transportation being provided by the US military, thus giving her her very first ride in a motor vehicle at age 15.

Years later, as a married mother of four living in the United States, Mrs.

Howard added aerobics and Middle Eastern dancing to her sporting activities.

"I started taking aerobics classes, and was eventually chosen to train as a teacher, which was fun because all our dances were choreographed by a professional dancer. Every ten weeks we learned a new dance so you felt like you were on Broadway. It wasn't like regular aerobics,'' she says.

Mrs. Howard taught aerobics five days a week for the Metro Washington DC YMCA until she was 53, and her classes contained both men and women.

"I still do aerobics, including weights, twice a week, and Middle Eastern dancing (belly dancing) once a week,'' she smiles. "I started belly dancing at age 35 and found it very interesting, but then I stopped for about 30 years. Three years ago I decided to get back into it again.'' Far from the sexual spin which Hollywood put on it, Mrs. Howard says Middle Eastern dancing was originally done by women for the entertainment of women.

"People have the wrong idea about it. As an exercise form, it is extremely beneficial to the whole body. If you do belly dancing you will never have trouble with your hips, and when you do the shimmy it takes all of the tension out of your shoulders. There are lots of hand movements, which exercise the fingers and wrists. In addition, a lot of the moves are beneficial to pregnancy and childbirth.'' When the grandmother of four returns home each November to visit with family and friends it is with her trendy titanium racquet in tow. This year she won the finals of the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association's consolation ladies doubles played at Coral Beach.

Once a winner, always a winner -- that's Patsy Stone Howard.