The 87-year-old Dunedin rower has managed to solve that dilemma by taking up indoor rowing on a machine that is securely attached to terra firma.
Despite having never been game enough to actually sit in a rowing boat, she has won two gold medals at the New Zealand Masters Games and set a New Zealand rowing record.
"There would be no chance of getting me in a rowing boat out in the harbour.
"Me and water are not great friends. I get terribly seasick and I'm afraid of drowning.
"I don't even like travelling on ferries. I'm not a sailor.''
Mrs Barron was the oldest competitor at the New Zealand Masters Games indoor rowing yesterday.
She said she had been training regularly, rowing twice a day, in her long-standing bid to win a third gold medal.
Yesterday, she achieved that goal by winning gold in the 300m event.
"I wanted to win my third so that I can give one to each of my children.''
She was supported by one of her daughters, Wendy Barron, who was back in Dunedin on holiday from her job as ChildFund Afghanistan country director in Kabul.
Ms Barron competed in the rowing but said she was nowhere near as prepared as her mother.
She said living in Afghanistan had impacted on her fitness.
"It's not safe to even walk around. I could go walking if I had [security] with me, and I was completely covered up, but it's not worth the risk.
"It's too dangerous. I'm sad to say Kabul has become extremely dangerous for Western women and kidnapping.''
She hoped to make up for her lack of training by tapping into her competitive streak, which she had inherited from her mother.
She said her mother had been a Southland representative basketball player, netball player and tennis player in "the day''.
"We're all hugely competitive because of that, and she's still hugely competitive.''
