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Of course, it seems impossible. So did the Giants in the last minute of the Super Bowl, so did Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson, so did Bob Beamon jumping 29 feet 2½ inches in 1968 (unrivaled in 23 years). The term "upset," for crying out loud, became popular in 1919 when Upset beat the great Man O'War in Saratoga.
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| Dara Torres: 'DNA test me, blood test me, urine test me -- I want people to know I'm doing it right.' (Getty Images) |
Is it hard work, genetics or chemistry?
"It's only fair to wonder how she's doing it," wrote syndicated columnist Jason Whitlock.
Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports said, "She's carving out new territory in unforgiving terrain," and highly respected Pat Forde of ESPN wrote, "Winning the 100-meter freestyle makes me wonder whether 'too good to be true' is 'too good to be clean.'"
The quality of mercy is not strained. Torres' typical workout is something designed by the Marquis De Sade, and she does it every day. One part includes a two-hour 4,800-meter swim that calls for things like "finger tip drag" and kicks with a board.
Then she gets out of the pool and has a swell time for another two hours working a cable machine and lying on a Swiss balance ball and making the letters T, Y, Z and W while holding a 10-pound weight. After that, she adds crunches, more weights and "resistance" stretching.
She has never tested positive for any performance enhancer and constantly requests random blood and urine testing from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. It's strange, but Torres has been forced to go on offense, having to compete in the pool and the court of public opinion.
After a number of fast times last year, she met with Travis Tygart, head of the Anti-Doping Agency and asked to be tested even more. She has volunteered for the most intensive drug-testing regimen, called "Project Believe." Her blood has been tested 15 times since March.
"I'm an open book," she has famously said. "DNA test me, blood test me, urine test me -- I want people to know I'm doing it right."
This mother of a 2-year-old, who planned her comeback 18 months ago, has taken a lap or two before -- just check the ancient goggles, which date from her Olympic debut in 1984. She won a gold medal in those Games in Los Angeles. Eight years later, she won another gold in Barcelona, then added two more in Sydney in 2000. Her coach, Michael Lohberg of Germany, is familiar with swimmers who dope.
"My wife swam against the East Germans," said Lohberg. "She swam for the West German national team. We knew about doping, she lost a lot of medals."
Lohberg said Torres is simply the "complete package," blessed with "the right body type, tremendous skill and ultimate passion."
