41 year old Dara Torres

[scooterbug44]

TFT, I know you didn't mean anything by it, but I would love it if for once a woman could achieve something and not be criticized for neglecting her kid because of her assumed schedule.

Her daughter is 2 years old and maybe her HUSBAND enjoys spending quality time w/ his daughter while his wife is training.

She swims 5x a week for 2 hours, weight trains 4x a week for 60-90 minutes and does resistance stretching for 2 hours (don't know how frequently so I'll say 5x), which adds up to 26 hours a week of training - far less than a full time job.

 

[shakennotstirred]

How old is her daughter?

I think around 2. She was on one of the national news programs this week at a Mommy & me swim class with her.

 

[TooFarTampa]

TFT, I know you didn't mean anything by it, but I would love it if for once a woman could achieve something and not be criticized for neglecting her kid because of her assumed schedule.

Her daughter is 2 years old and maybe her HUSBAND enjoys spending quality time w/ his daughter while his wife is training.

I agree with you, and perhaps I was assuming too much, but I figured he has a demanding job, since someone has to pay for all the swimming costs (and I'm sure Dara has sponsorships and is getting bigger breaks now, but I doubt it has always been so).

And I can't begrudge her one last shot, really, as long as she can do it, and I'm not saying she should stay home 24/7 after the Olympics. But there is such a thing as balance, and putting yourself aside a little bit. I know a bit about how much top athletes have to train along with other demands on their time, especially older ones, and when they have kids it is better if the dad just stays home and acts as the manager. I have seen this work very successfully.

I looked it up and it appears she is not actually married to her daughter's dad, they are in a relationship, and he is a reproductive endocrinologist. Pretty demanding job.

 

[scooterbug44]

My bad, Wikipedia said they were married.

Since she was breastfeeding her daughter 15 minutes before swimming the race that qualified her for the Olympic trials I don't think she's that neglectful of a mom. ;-)

 

[Will B]

I believe that, since she is being drug tested practically every 12 hours, she probably is not on anything...

She has said publicly several times that due to her age and the sport in which she competes she voluntarily submits herself for drug testing on a regular basis so she can remain above reproach. Better to never give them a target at all...

 

[TooFarTampa]

My bad, Wikipedia said they were married.

Since she was breastfeeding her daughter 15 minutes before swimming the race that qualified her for the Olympic trials I don't think she's that neglectful of a mom. ;-)

Good point. I did not read that. So you're probably right.

I did not/have never known her personally, but she just never really gave me the warm fuzzies during her career, so maybe I am jumping to conclusions based on my own outlook. For the record, I am a HUGE feminist in general, and do not make it a policy to yammer on about how women should stay home etc. I believe you can have it all, but I do also know that it is really, really hard to have it all at once.

 

[ktschris]

My bad, Wikipedia said they were married.

Since she was breastfeeding her daughter 15 minutes before swimming the race that qualified her for the Olympic trials I don't think she's that neglectful of a mom. ;-)

Her daughter is 2 and she's still breastfeeding? There must be a mistake somewhere.

 

[scooterbug44]

She was breastfeeding back when she was competing in the Masters World Championships, not currently. I think her daughter was 3-4 months old then.

 

[beachmouse]

I agree with you, and perhaps I was assuming too much, but I figured he has a demanding job, since someone has to pay for all the swimming costs (and I'm sure Dara has sponsorships and is getting bigger breaks now, but I doubt it has always been so).

Dara never really would have had to work a day in her life if she didn't want to, and doesn't have to work now. She's just spectacularly unsuited to the ladies who lunch and play tennis sort of lifestyle that's common in her SES peer group so she's spent her life doing things that seemed interesting and fun to her.

From what I've seen, she utterly adores her young daughter, and is going to spare nothing to see that she has a good childhood. Tessa just better not be doing something by age 16 that is seen as competing with Mommy.

 

[TooFarTampa]

She has said publicly several times that due to her age and the sport in which she competes she voluntarily submits herself for drug testing on a regular basis so she can remain above reproach. Better to never give them a target at all...

Well, now that we are post-BALCO, nobody really gives much credence to the testing anymore. Many if not most of the top athletes who have doped have been simply ahead of the testing. So that is why you will continue to hear the chatter during and possibly beyond the Games, about many athletes. Incredible stories are always going to generate much suspicion. Think Floyd Landis -- that may be the last "amazing story" that the American public will fully buy into for a good long time.