Dara Torres-Amazing

That is just one parameter affected by the aging process. Interestingly, studies have shown that women see a greater decline in their performance in shorter races, which is in contrast to men. How many factors are affected by doping? Is it more than strength? If it is primarily a question of strength then it seems to me to come down to a question of whether it is plausible that she could make the strength gains she has without doping. My understanding is that it is still possible to make large strength gains in one's late thirties, esp. if one hasn't concentrated on strength training when younger. It seems to me that just recently there was an article discussed here that purported to show that the declines in parameters other than maximum heart rate/V02-max were negligible well past the age of 40, implying that reduced training was the primary reason for performance declines in aging athletes. How large is the sample size for athletes even attempting to train and perform at this level at age 40? Could she not just be well out on the bell curve?

I didn't say it wasn't possible. I am just trying to explain why some of us are skeptical. It has been implied that we are drawing conclusions on the basis of a few pictures. Unfortunately, it it not at all clear (from published studies) that training slows the rate of decline in these parameters. And she also swims the 100.

Remember, we are not talking about an out of shape 40 year old housewife making a masters comeback here....Dara NEVER let herself get out of shape at any time that she had stopped competing....true she wasn't logging major swimming yardage but trust me...she was FIT.I agree with Paul here. I swam at the same time as Dara in So Cal swimming and in college. I was an Olympic Trial Qualifier but not quite as good as Dara (different events). I have stayed very fit over the years and have never let myself get out of shape. Now, I've had three kids as opposed to her one. I haven't trained quite as hard as she has in the last few years (not to mention I don't have the same resources or time to put toward training like that). But, I don't think I could reach AND EXCEED my college times at this age even if I DID have the time, resources and motivation. To beat a 50 time by 2 seconds at 40+ when your original 50 was exceedingly fast to begin with...that just seems too good to be true. She may be totally clean. But I think skepticism is not out of line. HUGE difference between a masters swimmer who had decent times in high-school being faster post-40 and a former DI National Champion and Olympic Team member getting faster at 40+.

And she also swims the 100. If she took down the 100 free record (or any distance greater)...the speculation might be even more intense. This article explains a great deal of the questions which she faces. And it outlines how she trains. www.nytimes.com/.../18torres.html It really doesn't seem so far fetched that a 6 foot tall 150 pound, former Olympian, in extremely good condition, can bang out a 50 meter sprint in record time.

An interesting detail in the article is that she is regularly giving blood samples for testing in addition to the regular urine samples. I'm not that knowledgeable about testing but aren't most of the things that aren't detectable in urine samples detectable in blood samples? (e.g. HGH) This seems like an important distinction between her and other athletes that have never tested positive.

Here are Max heart rates for 5 runners. Now how do we determine if these heart rates are lowered because they are doing more effective training??? Athlete #1 age 30 189, age 40 183, age 45 179, age 50 177. Athlete #2 age 30 185, age 40 178, age 45 174, age 50 171. Athlete #3 age 30 192, age 40 183, age 45 179, age 50 175. Athlete #4 age 30 187, age 40 180, age 45 177, age 50 173. Athlete #5 age 30 183, age 40 172, age 45 167, age 50 167.

Personally, I would like to believe the results are legitimate, since I have some issues with the aging process. But it beats the alternative.

www.womenshealthmag.com/.../meet-dara-torres She does not look out of proportion here in this article photo. Gail Devers also delivered at age 40: sports.espn.go.com/.../wire Troy Douglas owns the 40+ 100m and 200m track records at 10.29 and 20.64. I think this is close to the american qualifying standard for US trials. Bill Collins ran a 10.95 100m at over 50 years old. George Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer on a cheesburger diet at age 45. Maybe masters athletics has gained popularity and the "I can do it" attitude....Hopefully that means not drugs.

Back in the 80s when I was a running fanatic, there was an article in a running magazine about top level female runners, including Ingrid Christenson (at that time a record holder in the marathon) who did their best times within 2 years of having a baby. No-one was quite sure why, but there were several theories, including one about the effect of pregnancy hormones on flexibility.The effect didn't seem to last much more than two years. It also came out after records were released that the East Germans had some of their female athletes impregnated/then given abortions to induce the hormonal effect you are referring to...pretty horrible stuff and an example of just how far some athletes/coaches/trainers/sports federations are willing to go (or look the other way) to win.

Personal bests in a 40-year-old? Not unheard of at all, ask around. This time it happens to be an American Record. I certainly see this with a 42 year old in our club doing lifetime PBs after two kids. She was not in Dara's class but good enough to make the 2006 FINA World Masters top ten female listing in the tough 40-44 group. And on only training 2 times a week! Personalized, new technology training can make a big difference to anyone.