Dara Torres-Amazing

Fort...way to put it! Why do we have to be conventional? People that stick to these thoughts are usually left behind when it comes to opening up their potential and exploring what the world has to offer them. It's called humility and I, myself, need to be more that way. Isn't humility all the more important in folks that have a chance like Dara to be among the best?

No, I wasn't meaning to imply that Geek could use that excuse, although I'm now highly suspicious of his accomplishments this past year. No one should be able to do a lifetime best after age 40 :shakeshead:. Come on Jim you know no one trying to discuss this topic is making this argument...you've purposely left out every single other key element ties to the skepticism some of us had...your far smarter than that so play fair. The accurate way to say what you said based on this long discussion would be; "It's questionable but possible that a 41 year old former elite female athlete after a 7 year layoff from swimming, an 18 month comeback, two surgeries, a completely redesigned physique can not only do a lifetime best but set 2 AR's and such an athlete in spite of undergoing testing should and is aware that people will question such accomplishments based on the drug culture that continues to grow in the world of sports"

If you are unconventional, best not! It's great marketing. Dara is, hands down, the best speaker among our elite Olympians. If only Ryan Lochte could take some public speaking sessions from her and quit his incessant mumbling, maybe he'd make some more money and be better appreciated. This lay low stuff is ridiculous. This is her time to shine. O.k. I know I'll get some eggs thrown at me on this one, but is Dara Torres the role model we want for 41 year old women? Would it be good for society for all athletically inclined mothers to devote more time to their athletic endeavors than to their family? Hersey and Coughlin seem like better spokeswomen for our female Olympians. More humble than Dara.

No one should be able to do a lifetime best after age 40 :shakeshead:. It helps if you quit swimming at age 14 to pursue wine, women and song full time for 15 years and get super tubby.

Blech. :eek: I don't personally agree with ANY of these statements and I'm a 40 something mom. Jim: Geek can't invoke option E and he really hasn't. He previously stated that no master can really compare themselves too well to Dara -- and he's right. Fortress - Actually, the comments to which I refer were heard and read outside the USMS forum. I will admit, however, that I'm stuck in the dark ages. Hard to believe I interned for one of the most liberal Senators in Congress when I was in college. Seriously, if Dara was a man (no pun intended), would she be going through this ordeal? Even after all the BALCO stuff, if a 41 one year old Mark Spitz type made it, I think his accomplishment would get some questioning but probably not as much as Dara's.

Bottom line, if you are unconventional, best to be low-profile. Dara kind of reminds me of Princess Di, rest her soul. She loves the attention of the media but it may be the very thing that takes her down. If you are unconventional, best not! It's great marketing. Dara is, hands down, the best speaker among our elite Olympians. If only Ryan Lochte could take some public speaking sessions from her and quit his incessant mumbling, maybe he'd make some more money and be better appreciated. This lay low stuff is ridiculous. This is her time to shine.

Now it is time to criticque her parenting skills. We have no proof of drugs. Next we will talk about any skin blemishes. I once saw a movie it was called the Never Ending Story. The price somebody pays when they draw media attention is full scrutiny of their life! Who knows how Dara's parenting skills are. If she is living an unconventional life, people are going to have a hard time "liking' her. If you like somebody, you are less likely to doubt their accomplishments. I'm certainly no judge of her as a parent. Just a listener and reader of comments made by women Dara's age. Bottom line, if you are unconventional, best to be low-profile. Dara kind of reminds me of Princess Di, rest her soul. She loves the attention of the media but it may be the very thing that takes her down.

If she was low-profile, got married right out of college, was still married to the same person, and had a couple of pre-teen or teenage kids, I think we might be quicker to embrace her. This is what society expects of a 41 year old woman. Women, and I can say this since I am one, are the hardest on each other. We don't like it when one of our own doesn't conform to society's ideal. I am a bit conservative, and being the mother of a son, I would want my son's wife at 41 to be a litte bit more focused on her home and her family. It is, however, Dara's life and she is free to do what she wants with it. I am just trying to analyze why so many people are being hard on her. Blech. :eek: I don't personally agree with ANY of these statements and I'm a 40 something mom. And maybe you should check out the divorce rate. It's hardly unconventional. And get married right out of college?!?! I've told my youngest it's illegal to get married before 30. Jim: Geek can't invoke option E and he really hasn't. He previously stated that no master can really compare themselves too well to Dara -- and he's right.

I just can't believe that she would risk becoming the most shamed, grandest sporting fraud of all time. She would be ruined, and unless she desires to live the remainder of her life as the most despised user of all-time, I can't see her having doped.I know why you say this, as it makes logical sense. I used to think that way too, but not after watching the Tour De France for a few years. All of those athletes are being tested - many times throughout the tour. Therefore, you'd think that since they *know* that they *will* be tested, they'd be insane to actually try to dope and get away with it. However, time and time again we find out that one of the top athletes has a bad day, falls down in the rankings, etc. and then resorts to extreme measures by doping. The next day they make a miraculous comeback, get tested, get busted, get thrown out of the tour and they're off the team. In other words, Floyd Landis and Alexander Vinokourov shouldn't have ever done what they did, as it would assuredly result in being 'ruined', 'shamed', and viewed as a 'sporting fraud'. So as illogical as it seems to one of us that they'd actually be so desperate and take such risks, it really does happen - quite often in fact.

Ok, let's do this a different way.......... You are the prosecuting attorney.....tell me how you would present your case to the jury to make them believe you.......... This isn't a court of law. It's a discussion forum. You don't need to continue to tell us she hasn't tested positive. We know that is a fact. There are shades of gray here, no harm in discussing it. It would be one thing if we did this on our own but since she was the first to openly acknowledge it, there is no issue with us talking on it. I will admit that my position is eroded since a co-conspirator just admitted to watching the latest Rocky movie.