June 30, 2008

One for the ages

Posted: 12:10 PM ET

The great thing about the Olympics are the stories behind the athletes - and there may be none better than Dara Torres.

She's a 41-year-old mom trying to make her fifth Olympic team this week. If she does, it would be a first for any swimmer. And, she has a very good chance of doing it.

Currently, Dara is the fastest female in America in the 50-freestyle.

She became the oldest U.S. swim champion in history when she won at Nationals in August where she beat her own American record she set eight years ago when she was 33.

As Olympic athletes continue to skew younger and younger, Torres is blowing that trend out of the water. Most of her competitors weren’t even born when she made her Olympic debut in 1984.

But beyond the challenges of balancing training and motherhood, because of her age, Dara is also dealing with accusations of doping. For that, she’s doing something most athletes don’t do - blood testing - proving she is in fact clean and that even in sports, some things do get better with age.

We'll have more on Dara on Tuesday’s show.

In the meantime, you can also watch this video for her complete story.

Posted by: Sports Anchor Rafer Weigel
Filed under: Sports

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Amylgh

June 30th, 2008 2:09 pm ET

I am excited for the olympics to start, and now I'll be on the look out for Dara.

Jon Heister

July 1st, 2008 8:57 am ET

I applaud Dara. As a 43 year old male, I am constantly struggling to maintain and even push myself to do better. It is a shame that they have to accuse or suspect her of illegal substances or practices. you would think with all of the advances in sports medicine and technology that there would be athletes excelling later and later in life. We pay more attention to physical fitness now than we ever did. As children growing up at the same time I know we focused more on our futures and what excercise could do to prolong our abiliites.
An ovation for Dara and all she will accomplish in her life.

J. Daly

July 1st, 2008 9:17 am ET

I knew Dara from her earlier life. She is a class act with a heart of gold and I wish her all the best. Finally, a real Olympic story amid the hype.

marc johnsonsr

July 1st, 2009 4:22 pm ET

I am up set over the disrepect to michale jackson I met him in 1975 and he has been a role model to me michale deserves to be in death to finaly be appreciated like me and other fans feel I have a 5 year old girl who adores him and as long as I live I will always give michale until I die love always mj from mjsr

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