Dara Torres-Amazing

I agree with Paul here. I swam at the same time as Dara in So Cal swimming and in college. I was an Olympic Trial Qualifier but not quite as good as Dara (different events). I have stayed very fit over the years and have never let myself get out of shape. Now, I've had three kids as opposed to her one. I haven't trained quite as hard as she has in the last few years (not to mention I don't have the same resources or time to put toward training like that). But, I don't think I could reach AND EXCEED my college times at this age even if I DID have the time, resources and motivation. To beat a 50 time by 2 seconds at 40+ when your original 50 was exceedingly fast to begin with...that just seems too good to be true. She may be totally clean. But I think skepticism is not out of line. HUGE difference between a masters swimmer who had decent times in high-school being faster post-40 and a former DI National Champion and Olympic Team member getting faster at 40+. Skepticism is a natural reaction, one that DT herself anticipated. Based on your description (OT qualifier, etc), you and I probably swam at similar levels in HS/College. I've kept fit and do not think it possible to come anywhere near to my college times in an event like the 200 fly. But if I quit my job and did nothing else, given modern theories of training and technical suits, I could see matching my college speed in the 50 fly and maybe coming close in the 100. (Heck, adding 1-2 hours more sleep every night would go a long way...!) I dropped 1 second in 50 LCM back between Masters Worlds and a year later, with no change in fitness, only a fairly drastic change in training. (I don't consider myself a sprinter, but my time at Worlds was good enough for 2nd.) Given that DT had recently given birth and was ***-feeding at the time, and then, as I understand it, essentially switched to being a full-time athlete...it certainly seems more than possible to drop 2 seconds in a 50 without adding doping to the equation. And I'm a firm believer in Occam's razor.

I agree with Paul here. I swam at the same time as Dara in So Cal swimming and in college. I was an Olympic Trial Qualifier but not quite as good as Dara (different events). I have stayed very fit over the years and have never let myself get out of shape. Now, I've had three kids as opposed to her one. I haven't trained quite as hard as she has in the last few years (not to mention I don't have the same resources or time to put toward training like that). But, I don't think I could reach AND EXCEED my college times at this age even if I DID have the time, resources and motivation. To beat a 50 time by 2 seconds at 40+ when your original 50 was exceedingly fast to begin with...that just seems too good to be true. She may be totally clean. But I think skepticism is not out of line. HUGE difference between a masters swimmer who had decent times in high-school being faster post-40 and a former DI National Champion and Olympic Team member getting faster at 40+. Skepticism is a natural reaction, one that DT herself anticipated. Based on your description (OT qualifier, etc), you and I probably swam at similar levels in HS/College. I've kept fit and do not think it possible to come anywhere near to my college times in an event like the 200 fly. But if I quit my job and did nothing else, given modern theories of training and technical suits, I could see matching my college speed in the 50 fly and maybe coming close in the 100. (Heck, adding 1-2 hours more sleep every night would go a long way...!) I dropped 1 second in 50 LCM back between Masters Worlds and a year later, with no change in fitness, only a fairly drastic change in training. (I don't consider myself a sprinter, but my time at Worlds was good enough for 2nd.) Given that DT had recently given birth and was ***-feeding at the time, and then, as I understand it, essentially switched to being a full-time athlete...it certainly seems more than possible to drop 2 seconds in a 50 without adding doping to the equation. And I'm a firm believer in Occam's razor.