• Seniors find active life in Arizona's Sun City

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Pat Weber, 81, leads the Sun City Poms cheerleader dancers as they rehearse in Sun City, Ariz. on Jan. 7.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Donald Smitherman, 98, kisses his wife Marlene at the end of a dance in Sun City, Ariz.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    A sign marks the boundary of Sun City, Ariz.

    Sun City, Ariz. was built in 1959 by entrepreneur Del Webb as America's first active retirement community for the over-55s. Webb predicted that retirees would flock to a community where they were given more than just a house with a rocking chair in which to sit and wait to die.

    Today's residents keep their minds and bodies active by socializing at over 120 clubs with activities such as square dancing, ceramics, roller skating, computers, cheerleading, racquetball and yoga. There are 38,500 residents in the community with an average age 72.4 years.

    -- Pictures taken Jan. 5 - 8 by Reuters photographer Lucy Nicholson, and made available to NBC News today.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Barbara Miller, 77, and Inge Natoli, 90, practice synchronized swimming in Sun City, Ariz.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    John Longo, 88, swims his daily mile training for the Masters national championship in Sun City, Ariz.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Jimmy Trollen, 80, rides in a boat he converted into a vehicle in Sun City, Ariz.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Constantine Moundalexis, 55, shows his mother, Catherine Morgan, 82, her graduation photograph in Sun City, Ariz.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Zerik Hakobyan, 86, touches her great-grandson Roman Hakobyan, 16 months, at the grave of her late husband Ovanes Hakobyan in Sun City, Ariz.