Dara Torres-Amazing

Should we really compare Dara to Angel Martino? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Martino test positive for testosterone and was kicked off the 1988 Olympic team?

SCYfreestyler, Perhaps you are right. Perhaps since Dara really never "owned" an event like the great ones she swam against which were her peers in the 80's and 90's. This is her way of "owning" her piece of history in the sport.... i.e. through longevity. Note, I say great in the sense of Tracy Caulkins, Mary T. or Janet Evans. John Smith

SCYfreestyler, Perhaps you are right. Perhaps since Dara really never "owned" an event like the great ones she swam against which were her peers in the 80's and 90's. This is her way of "owning" her piece of history in the sport.... i.e. through longevity. Note, I say great in the sense of Tracy Caulkins, Mary T. or Janet Evans. John Smith I'll buy that. In any case, if somebody has the competitive drive and can muster enough performance to actually make an Olympic Team...I say why not.

I thought the whole point of these new age wonder drugs was to allow mega training, quick recovery and quickly out of the blood stream. The benefit is therefore realized on race day, even while no longer detectable.

Should we really compare Dara to Angel Martino? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Martino test positive for testosterone and was kicked off the 1988 Olympic team? That is true, however she served her suspension and was eligible to swim once that was over. She made 2 Olympic teams (1992 & 1996) and in 1992 swam to a bronze medal in the 50 Free and was on the gold medal 400 Free Relay. In 1996, qualified for the same 3 events that Amy Van Dyken did and swam to a bronze medal in the 100 Free and 100 Fly and was 4th in the 50 Free. She beat Amy in the 100 Free to give Amy a forth to go along with the 2 golds in the 50 Free and 100 Fly. Angel also swam on the 2 gold medal relays. The reason I bring her up is because before 2000 she had more Olympic medals than Dara did. Amy Van Dyken also had more Olympic medals than Dara did and these swimmers swam the same events that Dara did as well as Jenny Thompson.

If the testing is random, how do you know when to take them in order to be clean for testing? Even if they flush within a few days, if you take them today and get tested at home tomorrow...you're toast. No? Correct. The only way it would work is if the drugs were undetectable by current testing or you just got lucky on the timing of the random tests. It doesn't seem like most people would want to rely on the second of those options.

It doesn't seem like most people would want to rely on the second of those options. Here's a few who have taken the second route - Landis, Ricky Williams, Ben Johnson, a couple of baseball players this year, the whole Cincinnati Bengals team, every bicyclist on the planet, Michelle Smith, it's a rather endless list.

Here's a few who have taken the second route - Landis, Ricky Williams, Ben Johnson, a couple of baseball players this year, the whole Cincinnati Bengals team, every bicyclist on the planet, Michelle Smith, it's a rather endless list. True. So does this give more veracity to those who are endlessly accused but have never tested positive? Why would the people you cited get caught if it were so easy to NOT get caught?

The reason I bring her up is because before 2000 she had more Olympic medals than Dara did. Amy Van Dyken also had more Olympic medals than Dara did and these swimmers swam the same events that Dara did as well as Jenny Thompson. All the more reason Dara is Cal Ripken. Positive tests still make me queasy.

Out of competition testing is random, it is also extremely infrequent. Lat year FINA conducted just over 1000 Unannounced Out-of-Competition Tests (about 140 in the USA). And while some like Hansen and Phelps were tested 5 times last year, most elite swimmers were tested once or twice, if at all. If an athlete was desperate for drugs, they could take their chances. Not necessarily. There is the legal term of "Not Illegal". Not being illegal does not mean its legal. They just can't test or agree on amounts that become illegalBill, in the world of anti-doping the WADA list of prohibited substances and methods is rather explicit. For example, it is “illegal” to take any anabolic steroids, no matter how small the dosage. Taking prohibited substances (without a TUE) is never “not illegal”. No grey area in the law, only in the application of the law. Think of a driving analogy; it is “illegal” to drive 56 MPH in a posted 55 MPH zone (no grey area in the law), however the accuracy of speed detection devices and the randomness of police speed traps, embolden some to drive illegally.