OMAHA — When you’re a 41-year-old woman and still competing against the top swimmers in the world, the old body doesn’t always work quite like it used to. Dara Torres, for example, has had torn rotator cuff surgery and three procedures on her knees.
Her ears, however, have always worked fine. And what she’s hearing in the swimming world is spoiling what her supporters think is the feel-good story of these U.S. Olympic Trials.
Of the swimmers whom cynics accuse of being dopers, Torres is one of the bigger names in the mix. The only evidence is this: her age and her times. She has the top time in the U.S. in the 50-meter freestyle. Her American-record 24.53 set last July is more than a second faster than the world record of 25.61 she set when she was 17.
Even her new relationship with David Hoffman, a 56-year-old reproductive endocrinologist, has raised some eyebrows.
Instead of telling the world about the joy of seeking her fifth Olympic team in her 40s after two failed marriages and a baby, she’s defending her credibility after coming out of a second retirement to seek Olympic gold.
“I had some pretty fast times,” Torres said during a Tuesday news conference, “and (coach) Michael (Lohberg) and I basically sat down and we were like, ‘OK, now people are going to start talking.’ ”
They did. Various swimming blogs have openly suggested she’s doping. It’s a rumor that has haunted her since she won two relay golds and three individual bronzes in the 2000 Olympics at age 33.
Torres listened and went on the offensive. While in Colorado Springs for altitude training last September, she met with Travis Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, and asked to be tested more.
“I said, ‘Look, I want to be an open book,’ ” Torres said. ” ‘DNA test me. Blood test me. Urine test me. Whatever you want to do. Just test me because I want people to know that I am doing this right.’ ”
As part of a new USADA program called “Project Believe,” she’s one of about a dozen athletes who gets blood and urine taken, at any time. Sometimes she’s asked to go to the nearest lab.
“It’s a pain,” she said. “It’s a real pain. But I asked for this, and I want to prove that I’m clean, so to me it’s worth it.”
Said Lohberg: “We can only hope tests do get better and more and more cheaters will be eliminated. We ensure we do what is the right thing to do. That you’re clean. That’s all you can do. My wife swam against the East Germans. She swam for the West German national team. We knew it all the time (they were doping). She came in fourth when we knew they had drugs, so she lost a lot of medals.”
Torres has her supporters, namely about 5,000 swimmers at the Masters World Championships telling her it would be great to see a 40-year-old in the Olympics. As if she didn’t feel old enough. Men’s swimming star Michael Phelps calls her Mom. But since she returned to training, which includes a relatively short two hours a day, five days a week and 90 minutes in the gym four times a week, she has attracted a new following.
“When I first started, people said I was an inspiration,” she said. “But I think it’s been a complete 180 turn. I have so many people coming up to me now and telling me about their stories and what’s changed in their lives, and I feel like I’m getting inspiration from other people.”
So what has been the key?
She began working out a week-and-a-half after giving birth to Tessa in April 2006. Besides Lohberg and a nanny, Torres has stretchers, a strength and conditioning coach, and a sprint coach.
“Age is just a number,” she said. “I have great people around me and I’m able to recover and, at my age, it’s all about recovery.”
Her chances of grabbing one of the two 50 freestyle Olympic berths Saturday are good. Third-seeded Jessica Hardy’s 24.85 is 0.32 seconds slower. Torres also will compete Thursday and Friday in the 100 freestyle, where her 54.45 is sixth.
If Torres makes it to the Beijing Games as the oldest swimmer in an Olympiad, she likely won’t medal. But she will receive a lot more questions.
“Unfortunately, there have been athletes in the past who’ve sat there and looked everyone in the eyes and said, ‘I have not taken drugs,’ and now they’re either in jail or being indicted,” Torres said. “You are now guilty until proven innocent.”
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
About Torres
Born: Los Angeles
Age: 41
Notable: First American swimmer to compete at four Olympic Games, now trying to make it five.
Olympic background: Competed on the 1984, 1988, 1992 and 2000 teams. Oldest member of the U.S. swimming team in 2000, when she earned five medals, including two relay golds (400 medley, left; 400 freestyle). She has earned nine Olympic medals during her career, including four golds.
College: 28-time All-American at Florida.
