Turn Back Time

Women of a certain age are going to be cheering loudly for American swimmer Dara Torres, who at age 41 (and the mother of a 2 year old) recently earned a place on the US Olympic Swim Team. Torres will be competing in her fifth Olympics--reason enough to make any forty plus female run that extra lap!

The New York Times ran a profile of her two weeks ago that detailed her exacting training regime. Because of her endorsements, Torres earns a hefty $100,000 that enables her to train with a posse of specialists including "stretchers" who stretch out her body every day for two hours. It is an interesting approach that relates to her skill as a sprinter. Apparently the idea is not to bulk up but to be lean and strong so as to move cleaner and faster through the water.

Torres devotes her entire life to training--some of the money also goes to pay for a nanny--and her friends, boyfriends and even competitors admit that her intensity is legendary. Yes, she is nuts and driven and devoted. And yes it is probably time to grow up and experience life outside of the pool--but there is a part of me that says, "You go girl" because who doesn't want to turn back time?

It is also interesting to ponder these Olympics in light of all the steroid violations that permeate the world of professional sports. Are we to believe that these amateur athletes are exempt from pumping themselves up with illegal cocktails of performance enhancing drugs? Are we to believe that national pride and honor come before endorsements and your face on the Wheaties box?

I don't know. I would like to think that some integrity still exists and when I look at Torres' incredible body I would like to believe that it hasn't been injected with performance enhancing substances, but who knows?

You tell me. Has your impression of the Olympics been tarnished by all this talk of drugs or do you still believe there are some "pure" athletes out there, at the elite level, who are making it without chemicals?