Posted on 07/06/2008 5:12:22 PM PDT by econjack
Dara Torres just won the women's 50 meter freestyle race in the Olympic trials in Omaha, NB, setting a new American record time in the process. Nothing new in that, right? Wrong! This is her fifth Olympics at age 41. Last night she set a new record in the 100 meters freestyle, too. As a has-been college swimmer, I can't imagine being competitive at that age, let alone still setting records. Finally, she has a smile and warmth that could melt even a liberal's heart (if they have one). What a great story!
(Excerpt) Read more at mail.yahoo.com ...
blonde/brown...
Oh my...If any of you are trying to find a great Christmas present for me, I have an idea...
Not guilty...Hit it? Yup.
Mark Spitz tried a comeback in 1992 at 41. That was a different situation. He was responding to a million dollar offer from a movie producer - the offer required him to make the team.
Dara had other motives and seems that she has kept herself in great shape. (Thanks for the great shape pic your posted, Perdogg!)
Cover of Maxim=Hot not sure about Classy ?????
Vogue = Classy IMOP
I’d give her a gold medal for that photo.
She’s stacked.
As you deviate types at FR would say ... innocent!
Oh,+my!
My thoughts exactly. Classy is not I would call that pic.
Stacked?? Uh.. no. RIPPED, yes..
And... IMHO, another steroid abuse story in the making.
Call me jaded... but, there is 0% probability that anyone in the entire world could convince me this woman is not "juiced".....
Frankly, I wish the sporting world would just embrace chemistry, and be done with it. As it is, we have the "Free Enterprise World" coming up with new drugs. And, the "Gub'mint World" trying to do the testing. It's not a fair fight.
She seems to have discovered a chemical cocktail that is undetectable.
She must have spent years perfecting it because she is daring the sports establishment to test her.
Quite brazen in my opinion.
Yes, it's called motherhood. LOL!
Being quite aware of the skeptics, she’s created a voluntary group for regular blood testing. Not the regular urine type tests with their limits.
Blood testing on a voluntary basis.
So she’s well ahead on the count of ignorance being put forward here.
She’s a great athlete but I’ll go with her greatness. Besides, I love a woman who takes care of herself.
You must be living in dreamland if you think that ripped body is the result of exercise and nothing else.
The Gator Nation salutes Dara Torres.
Go Win a Gold Medal!
Go Gators!
Perhaps the saddest part of the doping plague of the past 2 decades is: Any record or heroic achievement by any athlete is now under a cloud of suspicion.
You may call it “ignorance”... I just call it “reason, based on experience”.
There have been far too many examples of “extraordinary achievement” that later turned out to be drug-assisted. It has ruined nearly all sports, track & field especially.
I certainly am not an expert on the subject... but, I have been a fan. I’m now one with a jaded eye.
That’s what I meant. I was thinking the same about her being a roider.
Did she graduate from ‘Gator Nation’ or just attend?
Make note, that she is spending all her time training, which includes yoga, massage therapy, weights, nutritionist etc. It is remarkable.
Yes, she did graduate from UF.
Everyone knows the SEC is the best swimming conference in the nation!
“You must be living in dreamland if you think that ripped body is the result of exercise and nothing else.”
Well CaptainK, how would you know? I think I can safely say you are not a swimmer because Dara’s body is nothing unusual for a high level swimmer.
In fact, as a recreational swimmer myself who like to go and do a mile to a mile and a half, nothing is better than seeing what swimming does to the women swimmers.
It just makes them damn beautiful. And with Dara’s integrated program, it’s just going to show in spades.
Just like I pictured it.
“You may call it “ignorance”... I just call it “reason, based on experience”.
Yes, I agree that much of sport, including track, cycling, etc. has been a mess with drugs.
But my point is that people here are woefully ignorant about the program that is underway. Dara is part of a voluntary program with regular blood testing.
That brings a level of scrutiny that has not existed for any athlete in any sport. If more people were aware of that fact, they would not be so foolish to suggest that Dara fits the profile of any other athlete who may cheat. She doesn’t.
She’s set a completely new standard of testing and it’s voluntary.
Frankly, I applaud her for it and will be screaming my lungs out for her.
She deserves it.
“I swam with Dara in the 80’s and I am very proud of what she has accomplished! I am glad that you also noted she is part of the blood testing study they are conducting during these trials and the Olympics.
Make note, that she is spending all her time training, which includes yoga, massage therapy, weights, nutritionist etc. It is remarkable.”
Can’t tell you how glad I am to see you post. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Dara is setting a new standard for integrity and in addition is breaking the standards of performance for swimmers.
We are very, very proud of Dara on both fronts.
We are proud of her here also. I am 39 and it made me want to start training again! (At least that thought came up for about 1 minute while watching her last night!!)
If she isn’t juiced and still beats swimmers who are, that’s incredible! You have to wonder. Like with Lance Armstrong. Cycling is rampant with performance enhancers, yet he was able to dominate his sport for seven years w/out cheating. I find it hard to believe.
Ha, that is absolutely great. It’s made me rethink my whole attitude about training for the water too.
It’s absolutely awesome what Dara is doing. And the impact it’s making. :)
Lance lost me when I heard how he threatened Greg Lemond on discussing cheating. But cycling has been an utter disaster. I read some years ago about a rider who joined the Tour de France and was dying just to keep up and finish with the pack. He said he was getting killed because he wasn’t on drugs.
As much as I wanted to be behind Lance, the reality is that he hasn’t been caught but the whole sport of cycling has been dirty, for years.
If cycling was on the system Dara is now, it would not be in the sorry state it is today with no defending champion in the current Tour de France.
How so I know?
Because I have 2 eyes in my head and a brain on top of it that is operational.
There has never been a swimmer, man or woman, who has come back to break records they set in their 20’s in their 40’s.
NEVER.
EVER
Do you remember the Irish swimmer Michelle Smith? A swimmer who came out of nowhere to win Olympic gold. As a first class recreational swimmer I’m sure you know the whole story. She and trainer/athlete/drug taking husband were able to cue her body up with drugs in a timely fashion so it was never detected during her Olympics. (Though the very visible acne on her back was a telltale sign of doping). But a few years later they detected testosterone in her body.
Donna’s body is the body of a drug taking bodybuilder not a swimmer. I have been following women’s swimming for years and I have never seen any swimmer who naturally looked like that. Women swimmers are muscular but they don’t have veins bulging on the arms and abdomen.
I don’t know what drugs she is taking, but she’s taking something illegal and has been for a while. She’s been testing herself so she knows when it is out of her system. This kind of nonsense has been going on for years. For some reason we don’t want to believe American athletes are guilty.
But she is a guilty as sin.
AKA a cheater.
Excuse me.
I meant Dara not Donna.
“Because I have 2 eyes in my head and a brain on top of it that is operational.”
So your speculation is fully operational. Well congrats on your speculation.
You don’t have anything close to proof and Dara is providing regular blood tests disproving your speculation.
A sport as intense and even more demanding on every level like boxing has broken through your speculation as well. His name is George Foreman.
Comparing Michelle Smith to Dara is like comparing Obama to Ronald Reagan.
And that’s a fact, jack.
“I don’t wonder. Some athletes are just more proficient in beating the drug tests.”
Can you please share your extensive knowledge on defeating regular blood testing?
While your speculation rests on Dara’s word.
Flo Jo passed the test.
Michelle Smith passed the tests.
The list goes on and on.
Captain, you are referencing athletes that were subject to random testing from time to time.
Dara is not part of any random testing. She has put herself into a voluntary BLOOD testing program.
Your analogy again is inadequate.
“Please share with me your ignorance of thinking it never happens.”
Who said never? I’ve already said I no longer back Lance Armstrong who is an American athlete.
Please don’t suggest what I am thinking and stating when it’s not the case.
Thanks.
The blood tests are not 100% accurate.
Whether she put herself into the program or not.
And she only put herself into them in March. It hasn’t been going on for years.
If Dara is taking regular blood tests since March, then how is she able to not be caught even if the tests are not 100% as you suggest?
Since blood testing is highly reliable and she is taking regular ones since March, then her performance in making the team is difficult to demean, if not close to impossible.
And this is the standard on testing, including blood doping, steroids and hormone:
http://www.slipstreamsports.com/science-of-testing
Dara is meeting and exceeding the bar on her voluntary testing program.
If you have some better information, then please post it.
I’m glad to hear that Dara is on a higher level of testing... I REALLY WANT to be able to believe in an athlete..... I do. But... it’s tough to see a 41 year old woman with HUGE veins, and not think, “steroids”.
I personally knew Nolan Ryan. So, I know how freakish humans can be. He was a true anomaly. Maybe, Dara is too.
But..... if I were a betting man (and, I am)..... I’d be willing to give 4:1 odds against her being clean. Maybe, 10:1. It’s just not believable.
Nolan Ryan is a good comparison as he was throwing as hard in his 40s as most anyone in the majors.
Since March Dara has been tested 15 times. 15! Now who is going to pass all 15 tests like that in such a short period of time?
The woman has trained consistently and never left the sport. Her training regimen has been consistent and taken on some new levels like a full hour of deep tissue massage after every workout and meet.
Oh and the day she gave birth, she was also swimming and lifting weights.
Okay, perhaps all that dedication can’t put her in the George Foreman and Nolan Ryan category.
She went to the USDA and offered any kind of testing they wanted to do: urine, DNA, blood, whatever.
I would be willing to take your bet at 4:1 or 10:1. And I will be happy to take your money.
And, in this case, I would be happy to lose it. Thanks for the information. I hope it holds up.
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