A Canadian centenarian who only began swimming competitively 20 years ago broke his fourth world record this weekend at a Toronto swim meet.

At last weekend's Canadian Masters Swimming Championship in Etobicoke, a suburb of Toronto, Jaring Timmerman broke the world record in the 100-metre backstroke in the age 100-104 category with a time of 3 minutes, 51.59 seconds.

At last month's Manitoba Masters swim meet, Timmerman broke records in the 50-metre and 100-metre freestyle, as well as in the 50-metre backstroke.

The Winnipeg native said his wife first encouraged him to try swimming competitively 20 years ago while they were in Arizona. He won the first race he entered and has since racked up more than 170 medals.

Timmerman, who turned 100 in February, credits his success to GEDS, the acronym he invented for genes, exercise, diet, spirit.

He believes that even though people inherit their genes from their ancestors, a healthy lifestyle can influence how genes express themselves.

"If genes are formed by bad habits, and they are...then good habits should be able to make good genes," Timmerman said Tuesday on CTV's Canada AM.

For Timmerman, being a competitive swimmer means more than simply winning races.

"What I'm particularly happy about is that I broke four world records, that's the important part," Timmerman said, laughing.

His son, Derek, said he is happy that at his father's age, he has something to look forward to.

"He's a tremendous inspiration to all of us."