Dara Torres-Amazing

In mid January, I went down to Coral Springs to interview and swim with Dara Torres for an article that I wrote for Best Life magazine (and should be coming out fairly soon.) A couple quick thoughts: 1) I remember hearing that Phil Whitten did a study when he was at Yale where he was able to show there was no major deterioriation in swimming performance up to age 40 or so, PROVIDED an athlete continues to train at the same intensity he/she did in college years. The idea that there is this major and inevitable drop off is probably a reflection of how the vast majority of athletes quit the rigors or training to live, well, more normal lives as they enter their mid 20s. Recall that when Ransom Arthur helped start the whole masters swimming movement, many of the medical cognoscenti truly believed that maximum effort after 25 or 30 was a recipe for infarction. We've come a long way just since the 1970s. 2) Dara's American record time in the 50 m long course set last summer is significantly better (24.53) than when she held the world record for this in the 1980s (25.61 in 1984). However, I think it is possible that improvement has come from refinement in technique (she says her stroke is much longer and more efficient than when she was younger; that she used to be coached to have the high head position that used to be considered ideal for "hydroplaning" during sprints, etc.) and, quite frankly, swimming suit technology like the FastPro and the new one (which she says is really fast.) Maybe I am biased, but such changes have helped me achieve some of my own best times at age 50-55. 3) She seems to me extremely dedicated and focused, and her work ethic is pretty astonishing. She had knee surgery five days before I arrived in Coral Gables and she was back in the pool and then working out really hard in the gym for 1 hour 15 minutes of core/rehab exercises, followed by 1 1/2 hours of flexibility training with two full-time trainers. 4) To me, probably the most impressive thing about her was the way she helped out and encouraged younger teammates--like Venezuelan sprinter Arlene Semeco and 50 m backstroke word record holder Leila Vaziri, both of whom could theoretically be her daughters. As far as her own daughter goes, it just seems hard for me to believe Dara would even consider jeopardizing her child's future by cheating. Maybe I am gullible, but Dara really seemed to want to be a role model and inspiration. 5) blood samples taken today can be saved for future testing when presumably the technology for doing so improves. i think it may be one thing to cheat for here-and-now financial and/or ego benefits, but i just find it hard to believe that someone who is hoping to do something for a kind of legacy/path-breaking purpose, especially one savvy enough to know that even the best of today's masking agents, etc. can't evade detection for long--well, I just don't believe she would cheat. The only thing that has made me personally wonder is the association with Balco that one of the Smiths brought up, but I don't know enough about this connection to know what to make of it. In any event, I present the section of my transcribed interview dealing with this subject: Jim: All the steroid stuff, I’ve heard that you volunteer to get tested all the time. How has that affected your sport? Dara: Hopefully I’m setting an example to show there could be accusations flying out there but I’m willing to dispel those rumors and prove it- come on and test me and if you think I’m taking drugs, it’s not like it’s a new thing in this sport or any sport, It’s been going on for a while so it’s just a matter of taking a stand now and saying I want to be one of the first ones, fine, test me all the time and see what you’ll find. Jim: Did you swim that year that the Chinese girls were Dara: Yeah, I swam with the East Germans, I swam with the Chinese. Jim: Did you guys know what was going on? Do the swimmers know? Dara: We suspected but you can’t say anything, you don’t have proof. Jim: Janet Evans kind of said something. Dara: I guess she did. Jim: Does that enter your mind or is that something you can’t do anything about? Dara: You know what, you hope that they’ll get caught at some point but you can’t sit there and let it dominate your thoughts. You just have to go and swim your best. I’ve been through it so many years. What do you do? You just hope there will be enough advanced testing where people will get caught.

In mid January, I went down to Coral Springs to interview and swim with Dara Torres for an article that I wrote for Best Life magazine (and should be coming out fairly soon.) A couple quick thoughts: 1) I remember hearing that Phil Whitten did a study when he was at Yale where he was able to show there was no major deterioriation in swimming performance up to age 40 or so, PROVIDED an athlete continues to train at the same intensity he/she did in college years. The idea that there is this major and inevitable drop off is probably a reflection of how the vast majority of athletes quit the rigors or training to live, well, more normal lives as they enter their mid 20s. Recall that when Ransom Arthur helped start the whole masters swimming movement, many of the medical cognoscenti truly believed that maximum effort after 25 or 30 was a recipe for infarction. We've come a long way just since the 1970s. 2) Dara's American record time in the 50 m long course set last summer is significantly better (24.53) than when she held the world record for this in the 1980s (25.61 in 1984). However, I think it is possible that improvement has come from refinement in technique (she says her stroke is much longer and more efficient than when she was younger; that she used to be coached to have the high head position that used to be considered ideal for "hydroplaning" during sprints, etc.) and, quite frankly, swimming suit technology like the FastPro and the new one (which she says is really fast.) Maybe I am biased, but such changes have helped me achieve some of my own best times at age 50-55. 3) She seems to me extremely dedicated and focused, and her work ethic is pretty astonishing. She had knee surgery five days before I arrived in Coral Gables and she was back in the pool and then working out really hard in the gym for 1 hour 15 minutes of core/rehab exercises, followed by 1 1/2 hours of flexibility training with two full-time trainers. 4) To me, probably the most impressive thing about her was the way she helped out and encouraged younger teammates--like Venezuelan sprinter Arlene Semeco and 50 m backstroke word record holder Leila Vaziri, both of whom could theoretically be her daughters. As far as her own daughter goes, it just seems hard for me to believe Dara would even consider jeopardizing her child's future by cheating. Maybe I am gullible, but Dara really seemed to want to be a role model and inspiration. 5) blood samples taken today can be saved for future testing when presumably the technology for doing so improves. i think it may be one thing to cheat for here-and-now financial and/or ego benefits, but i just find it hard to believe that someone who is hoping to do something for a kind of legacy/path-breaking purpose, especially one savvy enough to know that even the best of today's masking agents, etc. can't evade detection for long--well, I just don't believe she would cheat. The only thing that has made me personally wonder is the association with Balco that one of the Smiths brought up, but I don't know enough about this connection to know what to make of it. In any event, I present the section of my transcribed interview dealing with this subject: Jim: All the steroid stuff, I’ve heard that you volunteer to get tested all the time. How has that affected your sport? Dara: Hopefully I’m setting an example to show there could be accusations flying out there but I’m willing to dispel those rumors and prove it- come on and test me and if you think I’m taking drugs, it’s not like it’s a new thing in this sport or any sport, It’s been going on for a while so it’s just a matter of taking a stand now and saying I want to be one of the first ones, fine, test me all the time and see what you’ll find. Jim: Did you swim that year that the Chinese girls were Dara: Yeah, I swam with the East Germans, I swam with the Chinese. Jim: Did you guys know what was going on? Do the swimmers know? Dara: We suspected but you can’t say anything, you don’t have proof. Jim: Janet Evans kind of said something. Dara: I guess she did. Jim: Does that enter your mind or is that something you can’t do anything about? Dara: You know what, you hope that they’ll get caught at some point but you can’t sit there and let it dominate your thoughts. You just have to go and swim your best. I’ve been through it so many years. What do you do? You just hope there will be enough advanced testing where people will get caught.