Dara Torres-Amazing

I used to think the same thing. About two years ago my wife was diagnosed with asthma at the age of 32 after having suffered breathing problems for the prior 5 or 6 months. The MD said it was not uncommon for these things to develop later in life. This is not to say that many athletes are not looking for a diagnosis in order to obtain a prescription though. No doubt there are many of those. My son had asthma in childhood. Our doctor predicted he would outgrow it in his mid-teens and that it would likely return in his mid-thirties. So far, the doc's been right (son is only 21, so we'll see if the second part of the prediction holds). In my own experience, I never had asthma until I started swimming nearly three years ago, and now about once every two months I get an attack in the middle of a swim practice. Often it is due to very cold, dry weather (we practice outside very early in the a.m.) or sometimes just from really pushing a sprint set. I have yet to get an inhaler for it, but it's tempting.

A tablespoon of the powder is not likely to have more than 10 grams total of amino acids. If it contained nothing but these three amino acids, it would be about equal to one chicken ***. Of course, chicken contains similar amounts of many other amino acids, just like every other food with a significant amount of protein. It says in this feature: www.youtube.com/watch that she takes 10 servings a day of the amino acid powder. If each one is like eating a chicken ***, that strikes me as a heck of a lot of protein to be consuming every day. I'm sure consuming huge amounts of protein could make a difference, but I'm equally sure other swimmers will also have tried consuming huge amounts of protein as well.

It says in this feature: www.youtube.com/watch that she takes 10 servings a day of the amino acid powder. If each one is like eating a chicken ***, that strikes me as a heck of a lot of protein to be consuming every day. I'm sure consuming huge amounts of protein could make a difference, but I'm equally sure other swimmers will also have tried consuming huge amounts of protein as well. I think you misunderstood what I meant by "equivalent to one chicken ***." I was only talking about the three amino acids highlighted by the promotional website. In food, these amino acids (which aren't essential amino acids) are only a small part of the total protein content. Ten tablespoons of this powder is not much protein, compared to what a swimmer in intense training with a good diet will be eating. I think a high-protein diet is a good idea, and most people who want to get stronger agree with that. In addition to eating a lot of protein, I also supplement with creatine, which has more proven strength benefits than anything Warnecke is selling (and it doesn't cause injuries, like his website claims). But this is seriously basic, mundane stuff when it comes to strength and body composition. So is heavy lifting, by the way, which Dara doesn't do. She has made huge improvements on her already world-class times, at an age when people usually get slower. There's just no way that an extra 50g or whatever of protein every day can account for it.

Adult onset asthma is not rare, although it is less common than childhood asthma. It occurs more frequently in women and may be related to hormonal changes (like pregnancy).

This may have been posted already, but I'm too lazy to read 60 plus pages. If so, it bears repeating- Womens 40-44 World Masters Record for the 50 meter long course freestyle event-26.6s Mens 40-44 World Masters Record for the 50 meter long course freestyle event-24.14s Dara Torres age 41- 24.2s 2.4 seconds faster than the world's fastest 40-44 Masters women in her age group, and very nearly as fast as the world's fastest 40-44 Masters male swimmer-Terry Boatwright. History has always shown an understandably big gap in best times in the 50 free- women vs men-age for age. How is it that this gap has now suddenly disappeared? Maybe we should believe that women catch up with men physically, as we age? Current Masters elite level times do not show this to be true. Put another way, anyone think Gary Hall jr can go 21.7 at 41?

Put another way, anyone think Gary Hall jr can go 21.7 at 41? From what I have heard Gary does not apply himself as much as Dara does. If he did he may just do that.

Racer X Apply the same logic to Natalie Coughlin (age 25), compare her times to Maters men and women of the same age.

Most Masters are swimming masters because they cannot compete against the good swimmers.

Mike, I don't even consider Masters times from age 30 or less. These are swimmers who are at the peak of their game. Apples and oranges. To me, Masters times only get interesting in the 40 plus age groups. Hence the comparison and the post. Strong words there George. I feel most masters swimmers are swimming masters because they enjoy it and are too old to physically be able to compete against the best. Their bodies have aged.

RacerX It is a fact that most master swimmers are recreational swimmers and are not able to compete at the international level. It is not meant to be a downer, it is fact. Bless all master swimmers for just being there and allowing us to comment about them. We do get older and not many are dedicated like Darra.