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.
Former Member
Not only wrong - but to ruin a pumpkin like that. I will never eat pumpkin pie again.
Sorry George. That avatar had the opposite effect on me. I'm craving a big bite of pumpkin pie.
Not only wrong - but to ruin a pumpkin like that. I will never eat pumpkin pie again.
That's OK, George, but imagine that pumpkin on your porch next Halloween.............
(how about we take Paul's Jackass-o-lantern comments to the NSR thread and get back to Dara?)
Did anyone else notice that Dara's partner was MIA for all but the beginning of Trials? They showed him the first night in the stands with Tessa and the rest of the Torres' - and he wasn't to be seen again. Maybe he was elsewhere in the stands or had to go back to work...
The NYT article on Dara had a quote from him gave me the impression that he was sick and tired of this training thing, since all Dara's time was focused on that and nothing on him. She calls him her "partner" and not "boyfriend." She wanted to start her family w/o committing to him (aka marriage).
I wonder if that relationship is on the rocks.
Paul, your recent burst of creativity with avatars ALONE is enough to earn you a beer in Oregon...
George, your comment about pumpkin pie gave me my best laugh so far this week.
I'm here for the sole purpose of pissing people off and pushing boundaries...mission accomplished with this thread now I'm on to seeing how far I can "push" Mr. Matysekj.
Chuck...You've inspired me to update my avatar!
Paul, your recent burst of creativity with avatars ALONE is enough to earn you a beer in Oregon...
George, your comment about pumpkin pie gave me my best laugh so far this week.
She was on the Today show this AM and Matt Lauer asked her point blank if she was using any banned substances. Of course she said no, who would not. But what I really enjoyed was that after she denied it, she stated that she is taking all of the chitter chatter or her being a cheat as a compliment.
Could be a paradigm shift in training, but if so few would have the resources that she does to hire the support staff this method seems to require. For the sake of argument, look at GHJ and Neil Walker. Both are world class sprinters in their 30's, neither of whom have ever retired from the sport. They train in different programs (The Race Club and Longhorn Aquatics). Neither made the Olympic team. And neither swam personal bests or set new ARs at the trials.
I believe it is more like that she is 1) an anomaly, or 2) juiced.
The fact that others may not have her resources does not negate the fact that she may be on to something. Many people don't have the resources for various medical proceedures, but we do need to know about them. Furthermore, if (a big "if") she is really on to something, then it would behoove USA Swimming to try to find the resources to implement this for the elite swimmers - certainly, if we didn't do it, another country would.
The fact that others didn't take time off may actually be against them, e.g. wear and tear, fatigue - both psychological and physical. Also, keep in mind that various studies have shown that pregnancy can have a positive athletic effect - GHJ, et al don't qualify there.
I believe:
1) Dara Torres is a statistical outlier WRT her ability.
2) She may be a bit OCD/narcisistic (sp?), but that's usually somewhere in the elite mix.
3) She is training a number of years ahead of her competition OR, even if she doesn't know anything more than the current state-of-the-art, she is implementing it all.
4) Yes, she has money.
On the way to work this AM, I heard the head of the USADA state that she'd have to be insane to submit to the amount of testing that she has, especially since they can freeze it and retest later.
I also note that no one has ever associted her with any known drug conduits. I realize that this means little, but keep in mind that most of the people who have tested positive have had that taint.
Until someone comes up with an argument other than "no one can do it" , "no one else can do it" or "it's never been done before", I see little reason to denigrate her accomplishment - being wary of it is fine, but bashing her on the basis of the above is pointless.
-LBJ
A few years back I believed in a success story by the name of Mark McGwire whose pursuit of the home run record captured the nation's attention. I believed in success stories named Marion Jones, Floyd Landis, and Roger Clemens.
You'll have to forgive me if I can no longer suspend my disbelief and embrace every success story in sport without question.
The one big (and it's a very big difference) between the persons mentioned and Dara, is she has gone way way beyond the norm in asking to be tested and be as up front as humanly possible. What else would you ask her to do? She is either clean or she has a close relationship with the very best mad scientist in the land...
