So is Dara Torres Using PEDs or Not?
Drugs, ESPN, Jason Whitlock, Media Gossip/Musings, Olympics July 9th. 2008, 11:08amExactly a decade after sports journalists’ heads were buried in the sand while Mark and Barry and Sammy went bananas, there’s much skepticism about 41-year-old swimmer Dara Torres, who next month will be the oldest Olympic swimmer ever. Pat Forde and Jason Whitlock aren’t buying it. Neither is Kurt Streeter (those his Nadal inclusion is baffling). Some interesting remarks from USA Today’s Christine Brennan yesterday on PTI. Think Torres is doping?
67 Responses to “So is Dara Torres Using PEDs or Not?”
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July 9th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Either way I’d still do her.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I wouldnt be surprised if ARod made a move for Torres. She has big arms
July 9th, 2008 at 11:12 am
I think common sense would say something is amiss but who really knows, and wouldn’t she have been caught? Isn’t the testing system for the Olympics ridiculously hard to beat?
July 9th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Weak arms, another defect of their kind.
\Dwight Schrute on woman
July 9th, 2008 at 11:13 am
The combo of Fixodent and Ensure shaves .4 secs off her time, easy.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I’d prefer to give her the benefit of the doubt since she has been out front in voluntary testing beyond the minimums.
She says they can keep her testing samples for as long as they want for future tests. So, at least she is being proactive and not just denying.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:14 am
According to her she produced almost 100,000$ in training related reciepts for just the past year. Seems likely enough training that hard could make one the 5th fastest for a single event.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Or even Christine Brennan, he’s all over that shit.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Pat Forde was unbelievable on ESPN yesterday I hope she sues that cocksucker. There’s gotta be slander in there somewhere
July 9th, 2008 at 11:20 am
fetch, what show was he on? can you find the video?
July 9th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Its pretty funny that those who criticize Torres’ accomplishments, probably get winded ordering a Big Mac at the Drive-thru.
Its called training and conditioning, some have the drive to do it and succeed, some would rather eat nachos and write columns saying that it could never happen without doping.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:22 am
According to the NYT article, she divorced quite well indeed, and has had no qualms about spending it as needed. She’s gone above and beyond in her willingness to be tested. I think you have to give her the benefit of the doubt. Being burned earlier in all sorts of sports by people who insisted they weren’t dirty does not removal the her right to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, as unfashionable a concept as that has become.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:22 am
yeah those 30 something homeruns bonds jacked that year shattered all kinds of records
July 9th, 2008 at 11:23 am
I don’t even know who this woman is, but I like the sentiments of this comment.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:23 am
note to self, proofread your posts BEFORE hitting the “Submit Comment” button.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Pat Forde is on steroids. Look at the size of his head.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:23 am
TBL, I think your headline is unfair. She’s doing everything one can do to prove her innocence. She’s been as out front and as transparentas anyone EVER who’s been questioned. Why not more benefit of a doubt if you’ve been following the story?
July 9th, 2008 at 11:24 am
You just freakin know there’s going to be a severly long-winded Bob Costas preview of her “road to the olympics” story come swim day.
God I hate that shit.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Charles Robinson from Yahoo wrote a good piece on Torres that included quotes from her on the drug testing group she’s a part of. The chick gets frequent blood and urine tests. Very few athletes are willing to participate in this type of program.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Lance Armstrong is not impressed by how many PED tests she takes.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:27 am
benji I think he was on Sportscenter but I’m not positive.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:28 am
That’s why everybody stays out of Hef’s way at the Y.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:28 am
How does she do it, LeBetard?
SHE’S A WORLD CLASS ATHLETE for God’s sake. It’s pathetic how the media have gone to blindly ignoring any evidence of PEDs to naturally jumping to the conclusion that anyone who goes outside the norm is using.
Open your mind, you retards.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Unfortunately, at this point I don’t think anyone is going to be above suspiscion anytime soon. It’s a period of time where for the crime of doping everyone is going to presumed guilty, if not for the simple fact that people don’t want to be let down by their heroes again.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:30 am
i understand the natural assumption that shes on some kind of PED when so many of the 90’s stars in the biggest sports were. but the fact of the matter is the olympics have an excellent drug screening program (which was in place for a long time but fehr chose to ignore when saying there was no viable doping policy). how many record holders have been caught and banned, a bunch it seems. while baseball and football choose to ignore the obvious problems in protection of their stars and their popularity, the olympics have never pulled punches. if youre cheating, youre probably going to get caught there.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:31 am
And did Whitlock really compare her situation to Barry Bonds’? Unless she’s been indicted on perjury for lying to a grand jury, what is he talking about?
July 9th, 2008 at 11:34 am
/made correct
July 9th, 2008 at 11:34 am
In my mind, its tough not to think that she has found some extra help.
I HOPE that its all natural and that she is doing things that virtually no one has ever accomplished. Her willingness to cooperate in any test tells me that she might be doing this au natural.
Unfortunately, we’ve seen it before with athletes from Palmeiro, Bonds and Marion Jones, who make the same claims yet have been exposed at a later date. Its natural for us to think negatively about Torres with everything else that we’ve been exposed to in the last 10 years.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt. She probably had Helen Reddy in her Ipod when she was training. That probably did the trick.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I also love how everyone brings up the fact that she had a baby when disputing whether or not it’s possible for her to be an Olympic-caliber athlete. I guess I missed the health class explaining that women’s bodies become completely disfunctional after giving birth.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I feel like the media is to eager to condemn her after getting torched by baseball players. They’ve gone too far in the other direction. Ok, it’s one thing to bring up the idea that maybe something fishy is going on, but the way Whitlock and Forde (who I normally realy like and respect) are acting, you’d think they saw her getting injected in the ass. When taking into account how much voluntary testing she’s gone through, you have to give her the benefit of the doubt
July 9th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Wally, the difference between Torres and Palmeiro/Bonds/Marion Jones is NONE of them volunteered to have both their blood and urine tested for PED’s upwards of 10 times a week. Actions speak louder than words.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Is this what the world has came too? Fuck. She’s good. She’s old. It’s like that can’t possibly happen. My dad played slowpitch till’ he was 44 and he was the shit.
/end sarcasm
July 9th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Sportsgal, feel like giving birth?? Let’s give it a try.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:42 am
CBS News did a good piece on her a few days ago (I can’t find it online though). It basically followed her during a normal training day to show what she’s put herself through. Her routine is ridiculous, with swimming, weight training and then hours of this crazy resistance stretching/muscle workout with people walking on her, torqueing her into weird positions, etc.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:42 am
” I guess I missed the health class explaining that women’s bodies become completely disfunctional after giving birth.” Sportsgal.
Agreed. The body can get back in to shape. The mind will be long gone, however.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:43 am
– Whitlock
Was “white Jewish” necessary? Why not just mother 12 days older?
July 9th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Reason 325 not to have children.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:44 am
They keep forgetting to mention that swimming is the least harmful sport on an athletes body. It may be called the most demanding on your body, but there is no shock on your joint from running, no impact with other athletes, just water.
I’ll be a non-believer once she fails a test. She seems to be taking more test than anyone could imagine.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Roethslishotdog -
Is this what you saw? http://search.cbsnews.com/?source=cbs&q=torres
–
Big L – That is Whitlock’s MO. I read that in the paper the other day and just rolled my eyes.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:46 am
OMG, clicking past channels and came across ESPN First Take, they’ve got LZ Granderson up against Bayless, it’s almost funny enough to watch, but not quite.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Why has no one mentioned those crazy suits they all have that make them break world records every-time they dive in? Couldn’t that be part of this?
July 9th, 2008 at 11:48 am
yaaaaaah, I’m going to have to go ahead and call (un)intentional racism on Whitlock. Basically the way I’m reading it with the way he presented it is…Oh man, she’s 12 days older than me and a mom she’s not even black AND she Jewish wtf!?!?
July 9th, 2008 at 11:49 am
KC Res, I’m a fan of your comments, but I have to ask — what the heck is up with your
-
formatting these days?
July 9th, 2008 at 11:49 am
wouldnt it be more shocking if the star of the swimming trials was black?
thats right i said it
July 9th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Like a complete dip-shit told me one time: The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:51 am
So if Whitlock doesn’t think Jewish people can swim fast, is it okay for someone else to say that black people can’t swim at all? No? Then I call the R word.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:52 am
moleman, I believe Phelps has some black ancestry.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Yeah when Whitlock says it isn’t racism because he is black.
/Stupid
July 9th, 2008 at 11:53 am
@clown: Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
July 9th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Like Romo does Clown?
July 9th, 2008 at 11:58 am
One of the big gripes from other swimmers is that Torres is allowed to take her asthma medication which gives her a bigger lung capacity. The Olympics have signed off on her using it though, but I do wonder if it gives her a little extra edge.
That being said, Torres has done everything she can possibly do to prove she is clean. The fact that media types like Forde and Whitlock want to lump her in with Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa is ridiculous. Please show me where those guys were VOLUNTEERING in anti-doping programs.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
That’s a good one.
I’m still relatively young enough to be idealistic, so I like to think that she’s clean. The fact that she’s been as proactive as she has with testing makes me feel better as well…of course, this is someone that’s glued to the Olympics every four years, but doesn’t give two shits about what goes on the other 3 years.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
July 9th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
If she’s using drugs, that’s messed up. My wife wouldn’t even drink coffee when she was pregnant.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
But that baby would have a killer mustache Hef.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
More MILFs need to start swimming. Hot in shape 40 year olds that will cut the crust off your PB&J in Skin tight swim suits getting wet . Givem breast implants and get rid of the swim caps and I think we may have something.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
i couldn’t give a shit about the summer olympics.
that being said, I can’t wait for NBC’s Olympic Curling coverage…
July 9th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
If she’s being tested that often then she has to be clean. The only other explanation would have to be some grand conspiracy.
/hates conspiracy theories
July 9th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Torres is legit. In a sport like swimming, age isn’t as much of a factor as in ball sports. While it’s fair to be skeptical, it’s bogus to broadcast or print that skepticism without a shred of evidence and hiding behind the excuse that her achievement is unprecedented so it deserves scrutiny. That’s like saying if Obama wins the election in the fall, then maybe there was vote fraud. Torres is getting screwed because the media wants to cover its collective ass.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I love it when fat, old men sit behind a desk and cast aspertions against a world class athlete, just because of her age. I believe that’s called descrimination. I hope they feel compeled to sue her, after she kicks both of their asses in public. I lost all respect for Whitlock and never had any for Forde.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
About the asthma medication, that’s basic physiology. You can’t increase lung capacity. It’s genetic. Your lungs are so much better than any other part of the cardiovascular system that it’s basically impossible to train them. That’s why asthma drugs are not on the banned list for cycling or long distance running either. All they do is allow her bronchioles to dilate like a normal persons. And she’s a sprinter. So it’s not that big of a deal anyways. Her ability to process blood lactate is more important than total lung volume.
/end physiology rant
Why people haven’t made a bigger deal out of the new suits I don’t get. They help alot. They’re part of the reason so many swimming records have been falling in the last decade. It’s very possible that she would have been as fast in the current suits a decade ago.
Add on to that fact that you never really stop learning how to swim, and I don’t see why she couldn’t improve. What I mean by that is the fastest swimmer isn’t necessarily the strongest, or best conditioned. It’s the person who has learned how most efficiently to propel themselves through water. Which most coaches (at least the ones I know) think you can pretty much keep getting better the longer you swim. Of course, at some point, the aerobic capacity and strength starts to decrease, but it’s been known for years that middle and long distance runners and cyclists peak about 10-15 years after they start serious training, so it’s not unheard of to hear about a runner running their best time at age 35. You add all that up, and I think it’s possible enough that she’s clean, and she doesn’t deserve the flak she’s catching.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
TBL change the headline!! Your headline is what’s wrong with America!
July 9th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I think what Whitlock was saying is that if the media will “attack” and accuse a white 41 yr old Jewish mom, they will go after anybody. Remember part of Bonds argument was that he was being singled out because of his race. Whitlock is pointing out that isnt true.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Whitlock hates black jews. No, he hates swimmers. No, he’s GOT swimmers. I’m confused.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Will someone tell me why 41 is considered old? I am 41, walk 4-5 miles a day, and I am in much better shape than my 13 step-son and 18 year old step daughter. If she has always been an athlete, her body will get back into shape after having a baby..
July 10th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I live 2 minutes from her in Fort Lauderdale area and while I don’t know her, have seen her, and she has a ROCKIN’ bod. She has a nice crib and spends a ton of $ on her staff, so she’s doing all right as an “amateur athlete”. Besides, there are so may divorced Jewish MILFS where I live she just blends in with the rest of them!
As for Whitlock, while I usually like his provacative writing, he ALWAYS has to say something that gets him mentioned somewhere. If I said he was a single, fat black guy that looked like rerun from What’s Happening, I’d (oh, wait, I just said it)