Dara just one the national title in the 100M Freestyle in 54.4 at the ripe old age of 40. Simply Incredible. :applaud: :woot:
If that's not inspiring I don't know what is.
Nowadays, athletic performances are viewed with suspicion because of the pervasiveness of performance enhancing drugs in sport.
Yes, and I've said elsewhere in the thread: I trust her results as much as any other athletes. Which is not the same as saying that I have no doubts whatsoever. If you distrust ALL elite athletes, then there is no point in debating the issue or watching the events.
Second, her performances need to be viewed in the proper context--personal bests (and an American record at that) in a 40 year old woman. It is well known that maximum heart rate declines with age. VO2max declines by 10% per decade. Pulmonary function declines. Cardiac output declines as a function of heart rate and stroke volume. Studies have not shown that training alters this. This is why some of us have a problem accepting these results as being clean.
And I think all of those things have little impact on a 50 free, that's why I think she chose the best possible event. If we were talking about a record in the 200 fly or the 1500 free, I might have a different reaction.
Personal bests in a 40-year-old? Not unheard of at all, ask around. This time it happens to be an American Record.
Do you believe she was doping at Masters Worlds, just after giving birth? From that point, she dropped about 2 seconds off her 50 free in a year of intense training to set an American Record. I don't think that stretches credibility at all. In some ways, her Worlds performance was the more jaw-dropping.
Nowadays, athletic performances are viewed with suspicion because of the pervasiveness of performance enhancing drugs in sport.
Yes, and I've said elsewhere in the thread: I trust her results as much as any other athletes. Which is not the same as saying that I have no doubts whatsoever. If you distrust ALL elite athletes, then there is no point in debating the issue or watching the events.
Second, her performances need to be viewed in the proper context--personal bests (and an American record at that) in a 40 year old woman. It is well known that maximum heart rate declines with age. VO2max declines by 10% per decade. Pulmonary function declines. Cardiac output declines as a function of heart rate and stroke volume. Studies have not shown that training alters this. This is why some of us have a problem accepting these results as being clean.
And I think all of those things have little impact on a 50 free, that's why I think she chose the best possible event. If we were talking about a record in the 200 fly or the 1500 free, I might have a different reaction.
Personal bests in a 40-year-old? Not unheard of at all, ask around. This time it happens to be an American Record.
Do you believe she was doping at Masters Worlds, just after giving birth? From that point, she dropped about 2 seconds off her 50 free in a year of intense training to set an American Record. I don't think that stretches credibility at all. In some ways, her Worlds performance was the more jaw-dropping.
