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.
I have wondered why our 400 I.M. stars and distance freestylers tend to peak at a younger age while, as I mentioned, you see many athletes in other endurance sports improve into their thirties. You raise a good question that would be interesting to research.
Swimming isn't a true endurance sport. You can't compare a 400 IM that takes four minutes and change, or even a 1500 that takes ~15 minutes to something like a 50K cross-country ski race or a marathon.
The 24.56 that she posted at USMS SC Nationals in 2006 shortly after giving birth to her daughter has me convinced that she is not cheating. I am assuming that she wouldn't have been endangering her child by "juicing" during her pregnancy or during nursing.
I really don't think this is a good assumption. Lots of smokers continue to smoke through pregnancy. Drinkers probably continue to drink. If you're a drug cheat it's likely you've convinced yourself that the drugs aren't dangerous, so why worry about your baby?
And for the record, I'm not saying I think Dara is cheating, just that this isn't any kind of evidence that she's clean.
I have wondered why our 400 I.M. stars and distance freestylers tend to peak at a younger age while, as I mentioned, you see many athletes in other endurance sports improve into their thirties. You raise a good question that would be interesting to research.
Swimming isn't a true endurance sport. You can't compare a 400 IM that takes four minutes and change, or even a 1500 that takes ~15 minutes to something like a 50K cross-country ski race or a marathon.
The 24.56 that she posted at USMS SC Nationals in 2006 shortly after giving birth to her daughter has me convinced that she is not cheating. I am assuming that she wouldn't have been endangering her child by "juicing" during her pregnancy or during nursing.
I really don't think this is a good assumption. Lots of smokers continue to smoke through pregnancy. Drinkers probably continue to drink. If you're a drug cheat it's likely you've convinced yourself that the drugs aren't dangerous, so why worry about your baby?
And for the record, I'm not saying I think Dara is cheating, just that this isn't any kind of evidence that she's clean.
