Ageism

Old Lady or Hot Mama?

Posted by: Anti-Ageism Task Force

Monday, July 7, 2008—The news that Dara Torres, at the age of 41, had made the 2008 Olympic team on Friday night by winning the 100-meter freestyle was crawling all over media outlets by Saturday morning. But it was the quote in a San Francisco Gate story by Scott Ostler that caught the eye of Ageism in America's Anti-Ageism Task Force:

"The idea," said Michael Lohberg, Torres' coach for the past year, "was to do something that hasn't been done before - getting an old lady on the Olympic team."

The article goes on to say: "Mission accomplished. Friday night, the old lady made the team by beating Coughlin to win the 100-meter freestyle. She now stands alone in history, the only five-time Olympic swimmer."

Our reaction echoed one of the 49 commenters, who said: "Eeeeek, since when is 41 old? And isn't that a rather sexist comment. I never heard anyone call 41 year old baseball players 'old men.' Regardless, I'll be rooting for the 'old lady' or my term, 'the veteran swimmer.'"

True, comparing competitive swimming with baseball is sort of like comparing apples and oranges. But one wonders whether, if Torres had been a man, there would have been such a fuss? The Gate, along with other outlets, makes a point that Torres is not only old, she is a mother. Not just a mother, but a mother of a two-year old. The implication seems clear: that a woman who gave birth just two years ago could not possibly be as fit as Torres appears to be.

So in spite of Torres' incredibly arduous training routine, many question whether she is on some sort of designer drug that can't yet be detected. Nay-sayers point out that doping tests generally sniff for known substances, but every year or so, new substances are available.

Ostler opines that "Age can be compensated for with training, to a point. But Torres' two events require 'fast-twitch muscle fibers', which generally fray and fade with age, regardless of training." While this may be generally true, Ostler does not cite any published research to support the statement. Could it be, as another commenter put it, that Torres "is just at the far end of the bell curve on some genetic aspect for long lived red twitch muscles"?

Others point out that Torres' body does not look at all like somebody on steroids. Just check out this picture of her in The New York Times. As another Gate commenter put it: "At 41, she's ripped, cut, athletic and a hot momma!"

But still another commenter said: "As the old saying goes "Old age and treachery will beat youth and skill, every time."

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