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.
Looking at other individual sports (Cross country skiing, cycling, track & field, rowing, tennis) it is possible to find Olympians in their 40s. The amazing - disturbing - part of the story is the 6 year break. I believe that a similar comeback was made in speed skating where Dr. Erhard Keller (Olympic champion 68 - 72) managed to duplicate his previous best time over 500m at the age of 38 or 39 after having taking a break of many years. Here we have a roughly similar story from the past, except that the good doctor's best time was not competitive anymore when he posted it.
And there are a handful of athletes who have switched sports but continued to compete at the Olympic level. Take Sheila Taormina, for example:
1996 Olympics (age 27): Gold in swimming (Women's 4x200 relay)
2000 Olympics (age 31): 6th place, triathlon
2004 Olympics (age 35): 23rd place, triathlon (she also won the ITU World Championship title that year)
2008 Olympics (age 39): trying to make the Olympic team in modern pentathlon (épée fencing, pistol shooting, 200 m freestyle swimming, a show jumping course on horseback, and a cross-country run)
Did any of you see her at Nationals last year in Coral Springs? The woman had just had a baby less than 6 WEEKS prior and her tummy was maybe 0.25" from completely flat. Probably less. Hello, six freakin' weeks after giving birth??? You wanna talk outliers????
I saw the lack of pooch with my own eyes. I have no problem believing she is dope-free. Go Dara!
She might have been reading this thread...
www.indystar.com/.../article
No need for that to quell any discussion!
The amazing thing about her 50 free is she didn't even have a very fast start! Amazing time!
Out of curiosity, how close would the normal person be to this level vs a top level athlete
The normal range for hemoglobin in a male is 14-17, in a female 12-15. Polycythemis is defined as hemoglobin greater than 18.5 for men, 16.5 for women. It's been claimed that an athlete training at altitude could (rarely) achieve these levels. More likely it would be due to blood doping or epo.
I'm not to sure if blood doping would have as much impact on swimming as it does on longer aerobic events such as cycling or running....but the article in SI awhile back and a couple of other publications over the last couple of years about cyclists using this technique (storing their own blood then injecting the day of a race) was pretty intriguing....more info at:
en.wikipedia.org/.../Blood_doping
she already has taken additional tests. what more can she do to prove her innocence? unless she fails a test just give up with this and hope that she keeps on getting better.
Wow - the dope thing raises it's ugly head.
Why is anyone concerned about what others do.
Drugs or not a great swim.
The drug thing is a non issue. Let anyone use whatever they want. No one should have to say what they do.
I raced an international event years ago after having a couple of beers would that be cosindered doping or just being a dope. I was told a one oz shot of whisky was a great stimulant.
