Dara Torres-Amazing

George, You have got to be kidding me. Do you really think there is a comparison between our times and Dara's times? Paul and I are about 3 seconds off our best 100 times and can't even sniff making Olympic trials cuts and Dara wins trials and sets and AR. You think this is comparable? Are you drinking at this hour of the day? Matteson..... I'm sorry to say, retirement does hinder athletic performance particularly as you age. Not racing and training for years on end does have a cumulative effect. Tae Bo and stretching are about as useful to fast swimming as jogging and cycling. It's nice to cross train, but they just don't keep you swimming fast. There is no substitute for getting in the water in the end. Also, with all do respect to Rowdy, I find it very hard to believe he could pull off a 49.3 even with a LZR in his 40s let alone beating that time. We can keep coming back to the fact that no one knows for sure. Some believe that if someone like Mark Spitz (who was more talented than Dara) can't come close to making a comeback at age 40 .... then why should they believe she is doing it without drugs which are now more prevelant than when he made his comeback. Susan Rapp (Vonderlippe) made more Olympic teams than Dara early on in individual events and can't place in the top 24 anymore. Dennis Baker (another former national finalist) can still swim an awesome 200m fly for an old man, still misses making cuts. Note, Dara wasn't significantly better than these people in her events before her 2000 comback. She never "owned" her events like her peers.... Janet Evans, Mary T., or even Tracy Caulkins in the 1980s. She made the team predominantly as a relay swimmer for years until 2000. Why is she now clearly the undisputed best female physical specimen for swimming on the planet at her age? Does money really buy a training entourage of success? Are Eddie Reese and the rest of the great coaches nationwide just missing the boat on something so basic in the formula that they should also be able to turn other old elite retired 40+ year old swimmers into national champions and AR holders in an 18-24 month period? I doubt it. John Smith ... what he said!!

George, You have got to be kidding me. Do you really think there is a comparison between our times and Dara's times? Paul and I are about 3 seconds off our best 100 times and can't even sniff making Olympic trials cuts and Dara wins trials and sets and AR. You think this is comparable? Are you drinking at this hour of the day? Matteson..... I'm sorry to say, retirement does hinder athletic performance particularly as you age. Not racing and training for years on end does have a cumulative effect. Tae Bo and stretching are about as useful to fast swimming as jogging and cycling. It's nice to cross train, but they just don't keep you swimming fast. There is no substitute for getting in the water in the end. Also, with all do respect to Rowdy, I find it very hard to believe he could pull off a 49.3 even with a LZR in his 40s let alone beating that time. We can keep coming back to the fact that no one knows for sure. Some believe that if someone like Mark Spitz (who was more talented than Dara) can't come close to making a comeback at age 40 .... then why should they believe she is doing it without drugs which are now more prevelant than when he made his comeback. Susan Rapp (Vonderlippe) made more Olympic teams than Dara early on in individual events and can't place in the top 24 anymore. Dennis Baker (another former national finalist) can still swim an awesome 200m fly for an old man, still misses making cuts. Note, Dara wasn't significantly better than these people in her events before her 2000 comback. She never "owned" her events like her peers.... Janet Evans, Mary T., or even Tracy Caulkins in the 1980s. She made the team predominantly as a relay swimmer for years until 2000. Why is she now clearly the undisputed best female physical specimen for swimming on the planet at her age? Does money really buy a training entourage of success? Are Eddie Reese and the rest of the great coaches nationwide just missing the boat on something so basic in the formula that they should also be able to turn other old elite retired 40+ year old swimmers into national champions and AR holders in an 18-24 month period? I doubt it. John Smith ... what he said!!