How Dara Torres Does It

Others have tried unsuccessfully to make comebacks at an older age, right?
Life got in the way or injuries got in the way. [Marathoner] Joan Benoit Samuelson is a good example. Before she won in '84, she came back from knee surgery. The margin of error, the difference between first and 10th at that level of competition, is so small.
 
So how did Torres do it?
It took smarts to get there, and a certain amount of luck. She probably had to train a lot more carefully than a 19-year-old does. A 19-year-old just pops in the water. When you're 40, you've got to think about "I did this today, what am I going to do tomorrow. I'm not going to recover in the same way as I did when I was 19."

How old are you, and are you feeling a decline?
Sixty. I felt it when I was 50. I was a soccer player.

With Torres so fantastic in her 40s, does that mean the rest of us can't use age as an excuse?
At least not into her age range. The problem is most of the rest of us are sitting on our bottoms.

So we should blame ourselves, not our age?
Yes.

© 2008