Dara Torres Qualifies for Fifth Olympic Team
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At forty one years of age, Dara Torres has qualified for her fifth Olympic team. She will be a member of the U.S. national team that goes to Beijing.
Not only is earning a spot on the team a remarkable feat, Dara Torres did it in spectacular fashion:
- she won the 100-meter freestyle
- she took 0.02 off her best time
- she is 0.06 faster than her gold medal performance in the Sydney Olympics in 2000
- she finished in 53.78
- she beat Natalie Coughlin to the wall ( Natalie Coughlin touched at 53.78). Ms Coughlin is 25 years old.
Dara Torres’ two year daughter watched as her mother did what was thought to be impossible. Are there skeptics? Certainly, there are. I count myself as one. Pat Forde echoes similar sentiments.
Nevertheless, Dara Torres has been tested extensively by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and nothing has been found. There is no doubt that she is a superb athlete. And somehow, in spite of the skepticism and doubt, one can’t hope that Dara Torres proves that natural athletic gifts and hard work can give a forty one year old mother a chance at swimming gold.
Catherine Forsythe
One Comment
the oracle
July 5th, 2008
at 10:45am
The problem here, for the country, is ‘can she do it under the pressure of the Five Rings?’ Also, as people get older, more importance on being up for the event, with the proper timing of rest, nutrition, and concentration comes.
For the older athlete, all must be in harmony or a dissapointing performance will result; for the younger athlete, not fully able to capitalize on the knowledge of the exact cycles their own bodies go through, they are still able to call upon the magic of adrenalin - which, as we grow older, gets to be in shorter supply, and has less effect on aging body parts.
I hope she does well, but in the back of my mind, I wonder if she isn’t taking a spot from a younger athlete that could use the adrenalin rush of first time world competetion to her advantage.