I'm suffering Dara Torres envy. I'm not jealous of Torres making her fifth U.S. Olympic team at age 41, or her 50-meter sprint times in the pool. I'm envious of how the world has elevated her to superstar Masters status ahead of others more deserving.
She's a phenom, no doubt. A mother of a young girl, Torres has been profiled in the New York Times Magazine and countless TV and Web clips. At Beijing, she'll swim the 50-meter freestyle, 4x100-meter medley relay, and 4x100-meter freestyle relay, hoping to add to her nine Olympic medals, including four golds.
But what about Merlene Ottey?
Ottey is the Jamaican-born, U.S.-educated sprinter who changed her nationality to Slovenian some years back to extend her elite track career. And if she improves her time a fraction of a second in the 100-meter dash by July 23, she could be going to her eighth Olympic Games! Yes, eighth.
How old is the ageless Ottey? She turns 50 in May 2010.
A fan Web site reported on May 10 that "Ottey celebrated her 48th birthday today with her relatives in California. She is supposed to return to Slovenia on Monday 12 May to make her final preparations before opening her 2008 season."
A few weeks earlier, sprint legend Michael Johnson predicted that Ottey would make it to Beijing, saying: "Her career has been amazing. She's an example of a real hero in the sport." Her first Olympics? Moscow 1980. She's won nine Olympic medals.
Her status today? Well, she's almost on the bubble.
According to her tribute site (created by a fan), Ottey has a 2008 season best of 11.67 seconds in the 100-meter dash. But at least one other Slovenian woman has attained the "B" Olympic qualifying standard of 11.42 seconds. This means Ottey has to run the "A" standard of 11.32 seconds or beat the 11.36 by countrywoman Pia Tajnikar to guarantee a trip to China.
The last time she ran that fast was 2006, when her yearly best was 11.34.
Even if she doesn't make the China squad, her 11.67 is mind-boggling. On the Age-Graded Tables, a performance of 11.67 corresponds to an Open (ages 20-30) equivalent of 10.198. (The real world record is Flo-Jo's 10.49.)
Her 11.67 this year would have given her the bronze medal a year ago in the world Masters championships -- in the MEN'S 45-49 age-group sprint final.
For Dara Torres to duplicate Merlene Ottey's career, Torres would have to swim in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
That's assuming Ottey doesn't make this summer's Slovenian squad for Beijing. If Ottey ducks under 11.34 somehow, tell Dara Torres: See you in 2020!
Tags: Masters Age Swimming Track
