Dara Torres-Amazing

Some of the arguments here are pretty comical. 5/26/2006 at the age of 19 Jessica hardy swam 26.97, the first time under 27 seconds in her career that I could find on usa swimming. All swims prior to this were 27's and 28's. From that swim, she makes dramatic improvements from 26.97 all the way to 24.48 in the olympic trials at age 21 (where she test positive for a banned substance). Nearly a 2.5 second drop. That is going from not even being an olympic trials qualifier to world class in a pretty short time. And the substance she tested positive for is known for its ability to clear the body quickly and has benefits for sprinters. Anything is possible, tainted meat or supplements, fellow team mate spiking her water bottle, or even a dirty coach. But how likely are those scenarios? I heard she didn't start training seriously until later relative to other elite swimmers, so while these drops are worth considering in this context, there are likely other variables at play. Doesn't change the positive test, obviously, but it's easy to go back and find evidence that supports a now known outcome. I'm sure you could point to dozens of other swimmers with similar time drops over similar periods of time who are totally clean. Let's not allow our reaction to this case taint our view of breakthrough swimming.

I've said this once before on here......IT DOES NOT MATTER how it got in to her system.........she is ultimately responsible for ALL Supplements taken. Excellent. Everyone is missing the main point. All the banter here and there about legalities and system reliability, etc. don't matter. The threshold levels are set high enough that accidents won't cause false positives, she tested positive A and B samples, she deserves the punishment. I posted last week, maybe on the "Crap.. someone pos." thread that we all need to get back to basics, like relying on the food we eat. Why the obsession over supplements and vitamins and this powder/that drink? Rely on your body to tell you how training is going, getting through more workouts and harder workouts because you ingested a chemical compound can't be healthy to the person overall. We've heard BS from athletes before - I never heard of this drug, I'm innocent, then Jessica's.. "I can't spell it". Yeah, whatever, don't play stupid, you're a professional athlete. Blame the supplements - hey I've got a suggestion - DITCH the supplements. How come every time an American tests positive it's either a conspiracy or an accident, or they didn't know, or they have a medical condition no one ever heard of, etc? Some people cheat. Some cheaters get caught. Anti-doping crowd: 1 Jessica: 0 Next?

Rain Man, Certainly agree with your position, but not the practicality of the solution. The fact is, while drugs and supplements can be dangerous, they generally DO help one get stronger and better at their sport compared to simply eating and living healthy....... hence the appeal and/or lure. The fact is, most cheaters DON'T get caught. Hence many believe it may be worth it to cheat when they begin their qwest with PEDs. The testing is simply not good enough. I mean really..... how long has EPO been a problem in sports (particularly cycling). We STILL don't have accurate testing for this drug. www.iht.com/.../26doping.php OLYMPICS Study shows problems with Olympic-style tests Athletes who want to cheat by injecting themselves with a performance-enhancing drug that boosts their blood cell count can do so with little risk of getting caught, a new study indicates, possibly exposing another flaw in what is regarded as the world's toughest anti-doping program.

Annnnnnnndddddddddd....... Dara Torres-Still Amazing

Would suplimenting your income be called abuse of supplements. My old friend George Larson suplimented his income after being an Olympic swimmer. He still swims at the pool that I learned to swim at and swam competitively. He takes donuts into the staff there. He was one of my hero's slam.canoe.ca/.../pf-677993.html

I was not really aiming that at you Fort, just to be clear. My comment was aimed at the people who wanted her locked up, thrown in jail, and to have her entire life ruined. That is either emotion or ______. I'm sorry, this isn't a case of her getting lost in the woods and missing badly hidden trespassing signs. If JH knowingly took a banned substance (and I'm pretty sure I have used the word IF when referring to punishment) in the face of all the info, handouts, policies, seminars, advice, object lessons, etc. then she has only herself to blame. And a lot of folks seem to be missing the point, the tests are there to see if the conditions of competition are as fair as can be had. A positive test, REGARDLESS of knowingly or unknowlingly consuming a banned substance, indicates that the conditions were not fair. So who cares whether JH knew it, didn't know it, was walking by a massive Clenbuterol spill the day before, she was competing under conditions that the other competitors were not. But as has been pointed out many times here, there is an established appeals process that will be the final arbiters of punishment. And there may be extenuating circumstances that we don't know. But regardless of that, JH should not be allowed to compete if the test results were valid. And as far as anyone knows, they were.

Good Eveing. I am new to this board and from Australia. I have read the posts in here for a few months and have enjoyed them. I am surprised though at the number of people who have suspected Dara of using drugs to achieve her superb results at your recent trials. I thought she was brilliant. I also read an article about her yesterday from time magazine which covers suspicions of drug taking www.time.com/.../0,28804,1819129_1819134_1825304,00.html If she were an Aussie, I think we would be defending her to the hilt and defying anyone who accused her. I hope she does really well at these olympics. She is an inspiration. I completely agree! Its really a shame that she is not receiving more SUPPORT from USMS instead of constant questioning. The woman is my idol.I am a tried and true patriotic American but, I wish our swimmers got the support in the US that theAussies give their swimmers. Dara could be such an asset to Masters Swimming in the US! If we ever had a perfect poster child to endorse us, she is it!

I think the rules indicate that a ban from swimming will be enforced and that sounds pretty fair to me. But seriously, a 2 year ban? Puh-leeze. Unless this is an accidental ingestion (yeah riiiiight), this should be a life-time ban. 'Sorry, this part of your life is over, time to pursue something else'

Gradually the argument will shift to her being a victim. She brought this on herself so whatever happens is her own doing and her own fault.

But seriously, a 2 year ban? Puh-leeze. Unless this is an accidental ingestion (yeah riiiiight), this should be a life-time ban. 'Sorry, this part of your life is over, time to pursue something else' I don't see them handing out the life-time ban. History has shown us that they don't do that. Angel Myers tested positive for steroids in 1988 but was allowed to compete in the 1996 Olympics. Edit - According to what I read, Angel received only a 16 month ban. I guess it depends on how good her lawyers are.