Dara Torres

[king_tanner 84]

I don't know if you guys have been following the olympic trials at all, but there is a 41 year old swimmer named Dara Torres who won the 100 freestyle, and will probably win the 50 tonight.She has has been in 4 olympics already spanning back since 1984. Twice she has been retired. She will probably be the flag bearer in the Olympics in a month. Recently with her staff of like 20 people she has been able to get back into top shape. It costs her $100,000 a year to pay all her coaches, nanny's for her kid, etc. She has a body-builder 6-pack.Here is a good article about her, and scroll down and you will see her abs.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/magazine...amp;oref=sloginAnyways, I've been around swimming my whole life, and I've never seen a swimmer look like her. You don't start breaking records when your 41, especially after being training for only 2 years. I think she is on steroids. She can say all she wants that she gets tested all the time. There are ways around those tests. Especially when you have a staff of so many people around her. She has nothing to lose, if she gets caught she gets banned from swimming which she has already been retired from forever. Some analysts are blaming the new high-tech Speedo suits for the records. At the most the suits will help shave off a few tenths of a second, and that is in the longer races. That is a convenient excuse and will be talked about a lot at the Olympics instead of steroids. In reality steroids in swimming has been an issue in swimming forever although Americans have only occasionally been caught. Judge her for yourself, last day of olympic trials tonight at 8 on NBC. And she will be the talk of the Olympics along with Michael Phelps in the swimming portion.If she is not on steroids, then she is one of the most amazing athletes ever, but I just can't believe it.

[Jrobb25 0]

I don't know if you guys have been following the olympic trials at all, but there is a 41 year old swimmer named Dara Torres who won the 100 freestyle, and will probably win the 50 tonight.She has has been in 4 olympics already spanning back since 1984. Twice she has been retired. She will probably be the flag bearer in the Olympics in a month. Recently with her staff of like 20 people she has been able to get back into top shape. It costs her $100,000 a year to pay all her coaches, nanny's for her kid, etc. She has a body-builder 6-pack.Here is a good article about her, and scroll down and you will see her abs.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/magazine...amp;oref=sloginAnyways, I've been around swimming my whole life, and I've never seen a swimmer look like her. You don't start breaking records when your 41, especially after being training for only 2 years. I think she is on steroids. She can say all she wants that she gets tested all the time. There are ways around those tests. Especially when you have a staff of so many people around her. She has nothing to lose, if she gets caught she gets banned from swimming which she has already been retired from forever. Some analysts are blaming the new high-tech Speedo suits for the records. At the most the suits will help shave off a few tenths of a second, and that is in the longer races. That is a convenient excuse and will be talked about a lot at the Olympics instead of steroids. In reality steroids in swimming has been an issue in swimming forever although Americans have only occasionally been caught. Judge her for yourself, last day of olympic trials tonight at 8 on NBC. And she will be the talk of the Olympics along with Michael Phelps in the swimming portion.If she is not on steroids, then she is one of the most amazing athletes ever, but I just can't believe it.

I thought so to. I'm not totally convinced she is not but, 60 mins did an story on her about 3 weeks ago and I left feeling about 75% she is NOT on them. Who knows. But, if she's not what a great great story.

[LJB723 0]

This defies all logic. At 41 she should not be able to start breaking records. Steroids are far more likely than a super body suit.Regardless, Libby Lenton will torch her at the games.

[CaneBrain 95]

She is part of a pilot testing program that is incredibly arduous. She has done everything a person can to show that she is clean.Obviously, she could be involved in the next evolution of performance enhancers......no one gets the benefit of the doubt anymore I suppose.But you cant claim she isnt doing everything she can to dispel the notion she is on roids.and dont underestimate the swimsuits....records are dropping like flies.

[Jadaki 0]

and dont underestimate the swimsuits....records are dropping like flies.

Yea they said something like 28 records have been broken since Feb, that's crazy.

[Bizzle 0]

Lol @ you tanner. If this was a 200, sure, she's prolly on something. But it's a freaking 50, anyone can swim a 50.

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

I'd be shoked if she tested positive for anything.She doesnt seem stupid and she had to know if she came back she'd be tested out the ass.I think its just one of those truly miraculous things that reminds us all why we love sports.

[El Guapo 8]

Ha. Tanner is just upset because he, like every other swimmer I have ever known that went to SLO, stopped swimming and got fat drinking beer his senior year and now couldn't beat anyone in a race.

[king_tanner 84]

Lol @ you tanner. If this was a 200, sure, she's prolly on something. But it's a freaking 50, anyone can swim a 50.

LOL @ YOUR FACE!@!@@ j/kas you can tell in 100 meters in track... sprinters have the fastest reaction times and speed out of any other athlete. Also she swam the 50 and 100, with pre-lims, semis, and finals. So that's 6 races, and she was breaking the american record in semis, then again in finals in I think both races. So its not just a 50.It doesn't matter if it is a 50 or a 1500, she should not be doing this especially after being retired for so long. With a huge staff of people they could easily get her past the drug tests. And it doesn't take high tech equipment or new steroids to get past the tests. Athletes test negative for steroids all the time then positive later. Think Floyd Landis and Marion Jones, they were tested numerous times during their competitions, but later tested positive. They need to stay on top of their regimine to get past the tests, and if they don't they will test positive later long after their competitions.And although the suits do help, Michael Phelps and MOSTLY everyone else would have broke the records without the suits. Suits aren't the only new technology in swimming, more intense training and new techniques are making swimmers faster. Mark Spitz couldn't imagine doing the same workout as Michael Phelps does. It's not just swimming workouts anymore, different dryland workouts, stretching, and nutrition habits are making swimmers faster and is why the sport is always evolving. All these dumb sports writers on PTI and Around the Horn say its the suits because they have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to swimming. Listening to those guys comment on Olympic sports in painful, stick to football, baseball, and basketball please.For an example of how the sport has evolved, look at those underwater dolphin kicks off the walls on the last laps in freestyle races. You didn't see that 10 years ago.Also when they are saying 30 records or whatever have been broken, most of those records are by the same people. Probably a quarter of those are all Michael Phelps. So I still think she is juiced, but like I said earlier it would be pretty awesome if she wasn't.And El Guapo I'm getting back in shape.... SO BACK OFF

[El Guapo 8]

And El Guapo I'm getting back in shape.... SO BACK OFF

Sigh.I hate that I have to explain that I only know one other swimmer that went to SLO, so my whole argument was based on one example of anecdotal evidence, that why it was supposed to be funny. Also I called you fat

[king_tanner 84]

Also I called you fat

I know, and I am, and I do drink too much. But reality has set in, and I have started to work out again, I signed up for a mile swim around the wharf close to my house to try and motivate myself.But you are right I am fat..... SO BACK THE F OFF (j/k)

[CaneBrain 95]

LOL @ YOUR FACE!@!@@ j/kas you can tell in 100 meters in track... sprinters have the fastest reaction times and speed out of any other athlete. Also she swam the 50 and 100, with pre-lims, semis, and finals. So that's 6 races, and she was breaking the american record in semis, then again in finals in I think both races. So its not just a 50.It doesn't matter if it is a 50 or a 1500, she should not be doing this especially after being retired for so long. With a huge staff of people they could easily get her past the drug tests. And it doesn't take high tech equipment or new steroids to get past the tests. Athletes test negative for steroids all the time then positive later. Think Floyd Landis and Marion Jones, they were tested numerous times during their competitions, but later tested positive. They need to stay on top of their regimine to get past the tests, and if they don't they will test positive later long after their competitions.And although the suits do help, Michael Phelps and MOSTLY everyone else would have broke the records without the suits. Suits aren't the only new technology in swimming, more intense training and new techniques are making swimmers faster. Mark Spitz couldn't imagine doing the same workout as Michael Phelps does. It's not just swimming workouts anymore, different dryland workouts, stretching, and nutrition habits are making swimmers faster and is why the sport is always evolving. All these dumb sports writers on PTI and Around the Horn say its the suits because they have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to swimming. Listening to those guys comment on Olympic sports in painful, stick to football, baseball, and basketball please.For an example of how the sport has evolved, look at those underwater dolphin kicks off the walls on the last laps in freestyle races. You didn't see that 10 years ago.Also when they are saying 30 records or whatever have been broken, most of those records are by the same people. Probably a quarter of those are all Michael Phelps. So I still think she is juiced, but like I said earlier it would be pretty awesome if she wasn't.And El Guapo I'm getting back in shape.... SO BACK OFF

fwiw, my wife was a very good 50 free swimmer (now a swammer....she loves that term) at Penn. she seems to think the new suits matter more than you do......although she did mention that the reason Phelps dominates is his underwater dolphin kick. Even as a person who knows NADA about swimming....you can see immediately how Phelps' kick-turns change the race.Also, she (Dara Torres) does have a big team so sure she could be doing something innovative to take drugs and beat the testing. However, you are ignoring two big things. 1) The bigger the team, the more likely someone will tattle to the media. Ask the Bush Administration how easy it is to stop leaks these days.2) She is part of a new IOC pilot steroid testing program. She undergoes more testing than just about anyone. Does this mean she could not possibly beat the tests? of course not. Does this mean she deserves the benefit of the doubt? I think so. She is undergoing the most rigorous testing regimen anyone has ever gone through and (so far) passed. If you dont believe her, then you dont really believe in olympic athletes anymore.....and that is a valid though cynical viewpoint.

[Jadaki 0]

If you dont believe her, then you dont really believe in olympic athletes anymore.....and that is a valid though cynical viewpoint.

Innocent till proven guilty.

[CaneBrain 95]

Innocent till proven guilty.

hey I am with you.....but I can sympathize with someone who has completely lost faith after the endless steroid outings of the last few years.

[loogie 115]

My nephew is the #1 diver in the US ages 12-13 (He just turned 12). I'm watching him compete in Pasadena at the end of the month in the seniors 10-meter platform competition.I know. Off topic, but I didn't want to start a thread.Anyways, he's on the fast track to be in the Olympics in 4 years. Pretty cool.

[YonYonson 156]

My nephew is the #1 diver in the US ages 12-13 (He just turned 12). I'm watching him compete in Pasadena at the end of the month in the seniors 10-meter platform competition.I know. Off topic, but I didn't want to start a thread.Anyways, he's on the fast track to be in the Olympics in 4 years. Pretty cool.

whats he on?-tanner.

[Jadaki 0]

whats he on?-tanner.

Nice

[king_tanner 84]

Canebrain her swimming workouts are with her big team.... but all her other stretching and dryland workouts on the side are not I'm pretty sure.I think the suits just like all the other racing suits that come out makes the swimmer think they are swimming faster. So even though it is giving them a small boost in the water, I think the mental boost outweighs the physical boost. Since I have not tried on the suit this is more opinion than fact on my part. But I have worn other Speedo racing suits, and you can feel an obvious boost, but it is the same boost that you feel when you shave your legs then swim.I may be a bit harsh in my opinion, especially since you are right she is a part of all these Olympic committees and gets tested a lot. I just can't understand why she is going this fast now, and why couldn't she go this fast when she was younger. She has the same dive, the same underwaters, yet she is faster. She is flying past sprinters who have the long underwaters even though she comes right up to the surface. She is a way faster swimmer then she was, so she is in her prime swimming at 41 which is amazing.

[king_tanner 84]

whats he on?-tanner.

How dare you mock me and quote me by my first name?And Canebrain I haven't completely lost faith, I just have this opinion on a individual basis. I actually think most Americans have been clean when other countries like the East Germans and China have been caught many times.I think all the steroid testing has helped cleaned up most sports, but it is still a problem.

[loogie 115]

whats he on?-tanner.

Frosted Flakes, mainly.

[CaneBrain 95]

Canebrain her swimming workouts are with her big team.... but all her other stretching and dryland workouts on the side are not I'm pretty sure.I think the suits just like all the other racing suits that come out makes the swimmer think they are swimming faster. So even though it is giving them a small boost in the water, I think the mental boost outweighs the physical boost. Since I have not tried on the suit this is more opinion than fact on my part. But I have worn other Speedo racing suits, and you can feel an obvious boost, but it is the same boost that you feel when you shave your legs then swim.I may be a bit harsh in my opinion, especially since you are right she is a part of all these Olympic committees and gets tested a lot. I just can't understand why she is going this fast now, and why couldn't she go this fast when she was younger. She has the same dive, the same underwaters, yet she is faster. She is flying past sprinters who have the long underwaters even though she comes right up to the surface. She is a way faster swimmer then she was, so she is in her prime swimming at 41 which is amazing.

I understand your suspicions completely.....my only point is she has done everything she possibly can to allay those suspicions. For that, I am choosing to give her the benefit of the doubt even though what she is doing defies logic.I am not totally sold on the suits either....but they sure look snazzy. I heard that two people have to help the swimming get their naked ass into them....thats a bit intimate.

[BigLebowski 0]

....more intense training and new techniques are making swimmers faster. Mark Spitz couldn't imagine doing the same workout as Michael Phelps does. It's not just swimming workouts anymore, different dryland workouts, stretching, and nutrition habits are making swimmers faster and is why the sport is always evolving.

And this is partly why 41 is the new 21.You don't voluntarily go into a new rigorous drug testing program when you dope. Unless of course you want to prove what everyone already knows, the doping tests are 5 years behind the dopers.

[king_tanner 84]

And this is partly why 41 is the new 21.

No because she hasn't been doing it her whole life.... remember she was retired forever. She just all of a sudden showed up last september breaking records along the way.If there was anybody over 30 who could swim a Michael Phelps workout I would be blown away.

[Bizzle 0]

I think the suits just like all the other racing suits that come out makes the swimmer think they are swimming faster. So even though it is giving them a small boost in the water, I think the mental boost outweighs the physical boost. Since I have not tried on the suit this is more opinion than fact on my part. But I have worn other Speedo racing suits, and you can feel an obvious boost, but it is the same boost that you feel when you shave your legs then swim.

I didn't quote a lot of the other stuff you wrote because I wasn't going to specifically address it. There's a few factors in play here that you are ignoring imo, such as the fact that US women's sprinting has sucked the big one for 8 years, so breaking an AR isn't that impressive compared to say breaking an AR in the 4im where the progression has been there over the past year. I mean, Coughlin made the worlds team in the 50 just because no one else can do the 50. Additionally, if you think Torres is juicing, where is the same post about Vonderlippe or Davis making trials at 43 and 35?I think Torres has made numerous statements about how she is better now than she was a while ago due to flexibility being significantly better and having a greater knowledge of how to train and prepare herself to swim fast. I can't talk about the former improving due to the fact that I am inflexible, but I dicked around with some of my kids most of the spring in the pool and went a best time in meters (as well as a bunch of in-practice bests), mainly due to the fact that I knew more of what I needed to do in order to get myself ready to swim quickly, even though my performance in a brutally painful 400 was enough to convince me that I was indeed fairly out of shape. It isn't inconceivable to me that an athlete of a fairly high caliber is capable of the same thing in terms of figuring out how to extend a career by figuring out what they need to do to go as fast as possible.Finally, re: the new suits, I have worn a new legskin and it is indeed as fast as people say it is. I think if you go back to how you felt about the aquablade and fast skins when they first came out (as opposed to now, when you've had numerous swims in them) you'd probably feel the same way. As something becomes familiar over time, it loses its edge-even the FS2 has become that way now.