|
|
BEIJING -- Dara Torres' coach, Michael Lohberg, who is suffering from the rare blood disease aplastic anemia, remains at the National Institutes of Heath in Bethesda, Md., and USA Swimming's Mark Schubert said Lohberg's mood has been more positive and upbeat since he arrived at the medical facility.
They've been friends for more than two decades.
"I was with Dara today when she was getting her stretching done and she was on the phone with Michael, and she said he was very upbeat," Schubert said Tuesday after swimming practice at the Water Cube. "The last I spoke with him they were trying to do tests whether the bone marrow was a match with his sister."
Lohberg's Coral Springs (Fla.) Swim Club has published this information on its website for individuals wanting to make donations on his behalf.
-- Lisa Dillman
FBO Coach Michael Lohberg
4695 N University Drive
Coral Springs, FL 33067
Payable to: Michael Lohberg
Memo: Acct #0066065580
The routing number is 267083763 to wire money from out of state or the country.
For additional information call:
Dorie Vega at BankAtlantic
954-344-2488 X7000
Or:
Nancy Cooke, Treasurer, Coral Springs Swim Club
954-757-8321
e-mail: treasurer@coralspringsswimclub.com
Photo: Swimmer Dara Torres looks over at her coach, Michael Lohberg, during a July 1 news conference at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Omaha. Credit: Mark J. Terrill /Associated Press
Five-time Olympian Dara Torres, four-time Olympian Amanda Beard and Natalie Coughlin, who won five medals four years ago in Athens, are the newly elected captains of the U.S. Olympic women’s swimming team.
Three-time Olympians Erik Vendt and Jason Lezak, along with two-time Olympian Brendan Hansen, will captain the men's team in Beijing.
The captains were announced Wednesday after team members voted. The U.S. swimmers are training in Singapore and will leave on Monday for Beijing. The Olympic swim competition begins on Aug. 9.
Photo: Dara Torres, right, hugs Natalie Coughlin after the women's 100-meter freestyle semifinal at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Omaha on July 3. Credit: Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press Photo
Updated: 4:55 p.m.
Six-time Olympic coach Michael Lohberg of the Coral Springs Swim Club has been diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare blood disease. Lohberg was supposed to be on his way to Singapore to help swimmers -- including 41-year-old Dara Torres -- prepare for the Beijing Games.
Instead, he is fighting for his life.
Lohberg, 58, is seeking care at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., with doctors who specialize in the disorder. Sun-Sentinel.com quoted Lohberg as saying: "The NIH is specialized in the disease and treatment. I don't think I can say what the prognosis is until they do the tests. The prognosis of these doctors [in Florida] is very bleak. There isn't much to say until I see these specialists."
Lohberg's comments as reported on MiamiHerald.com on Thursday night were equally bleak: "It's really, really bad. They told me I might last only weeks, or maybe even days. It's bad. I knew something was wrong because I was very tired and out of breath, but I thought it was from my herniated disk and all the stress. Turns out it's a disaster."
Torres, who says she has been emotionally drained by the experience, first noticed something was wrong with her coach and said he had a bad back before they left for the Olympic trials, and that he was becoming more and more tired in Omaha, saying, "He barely could walk 10 meters without having to sit down."
Lohberg learned of the rare blood disorder while preparing for a relatively common back procedure last weekend. Doctors performed routine blood tests that uncovered aplastic anemia, a condition in which the bone marrow stops producing new blood cells.
Torres, a five-time Olympian who has trained with Lohberg for two years, told McClatchy Newspapers that she is devastated: "It's so awful, really, really terrible. I can't even talk about it right now. I haven't stopped crying."
Lohberg has been coaching Torres and six other Beijing-bound swimmers.
-- Greg Johnson
Photo: Swimmer Dara Torres looks over at her coach, Michael Lohberg, during a July 1 news conference in Omaha. Credit: Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press Photo
For the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Beijing Games is all a numbers thing.
But first a trivia question:
3: The number of states that do not have a representative on the U.S. Olympic team headed to Beijing. Name them (answer at the end).
Now for the real numbers.
596: The number of athletes on the U.S. team, 310 men and 286 women.
30: The number of sports, including the newest Olympic disciplines of BMX, open-water swimming and women's steeplechase.
2= 0: The U.S. will not compete in men's field hockey and team handball.
5 x 41 = 9: There are three five-time Olympians, including 41-year-old Dara Torres of L.A., who will swim at an Olympic Games for her third consecutive decade (1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2008). Torres will also enter the Games as the most decorated U.S. Olympic athlete, with nine Olympic medals to her name (four gold, one silver and four bronze).
12: The number of athletes who will be competing in their fourth Olympic Games.
8: The number of gold medals Michael Phelps is after as he looks to make history by surpassing Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in 1972.
1 + 3: Sheila Taormina (modern pentathlon) already made sports history when she became the first woman to qualify for the Olympics in three sports (swimming, triathlon and modern pentathlon). This will be her fourth U.S. Olympic team (1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008).
47: The number of states that will have athlete representatives competing in Beijing, based upon athletes' listed hometown affiliation.
175: The number of Olympic athletes who are from California, the most of any state.
4 > 50: Four members of the team competing in Beijing next month are over 50 years old. Distinction as the oldest goes to sailor John Dane III, who is 58. Libby Callahan (shooting) will become the oldest U.S. female Olympian of all time, at 56.
15: The age of the youngest team members, part of the women's 10-meter synchro team in diving. Mary Beth Dunnichay edges partner Haley Ishimatsu (of Seal Beach) as the youngest U.S. athlete.
3 + 1: Olympic history is being made as Steven, Mark and Diana Lopez (all taekwondo) become the first three siblings on the U.S. Olympic team since 1904. They will be coached in Beijing by their eldest brother, Jean.
20: The number of U.S. Olympic athletes who are mothers. Among them is Torres, as well as three-time Olympic gold medalist Lisa Leslie (Sparks) and 2004 Olympic champion Jennie Finch (softball/La Mirada).
Trivia answer: Montana, North Dakota and Vermont.
-- Debbie Goffa
Photo: Left to right, Mark, Steven and Diana Lopez. All three will compete in taekwondo. Credit: Pat Sullivan / Associated Press
The USOC said on Saturday said that the average age of the Beijing-bound squad is 26.8 years -- a slight decrease from the average age (27) of the 2004 Athens Games team.
The slightly younger average age runs counter to what's been happening during recent Olympics. In general, the average age of Olympians "has been increasing since they are now allowed to be professionals," said Olympics historian Bill Mallon. "Previously they had to 'retire' early to go earn a living."
A few weeks ago, before the USOC released the latest data, Mallon suspected -- correctly, it seems -- that "the women's age may be creeping down a little bit because of the very young age of the women gymnasts and swimmers."
He also said that the youth movement might be balanced by "the female professionals who keep competing, like Dara Torres."
Torres is the 41-year-old athlete, mother, model, TV personality and motivational speaker who has qualified to swim in her fifth Summer Games.
The USOC on Saturday released only the average age for the overall team. If you'd like to see more data broken down by Summer/Winter and male/female, follow this link to a spreadsheet. Summer Games data goes back to 1896. The Winter Games data dates to 1928.
Speaking of older athletes, Associated Press reports that Laurie Lever, 60, will make his Olympic debut next month in Beijing as a member of the Australian equestrian team. Lever, who began riding when he was 10, is the oldest Australian Olympian.
Hiroshi Hoketsu, 67, will compete for Japan in dressage. This is his second Olympics.
AP also reported that the oldest Olympian on record is Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, who won a silver medal at the 1920 Antwerp Games, just two months shy of his 73rd birthday.
--Greg Johnson
Photo: Swimmer Dara Torres poses for a portrait during the U.S. Olympic Swim Team Media Day at Stanford University on July 12. Credit: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
The latest trend among athletes who defy expectations--including 41-year-old swimmer Dara Torres--is to request a drug test to deflect suspicion of an artificially enhanced performance.
Those athletes should be careful what they ask for.
Simon Vroemen, a 39-year-old steeplechaser from the Netherlands, ran the third-fastest time in the world this year last month in Germany. After realizing that there might be questions, he then asked to be drug tested.
The test revealed a steroid. Vroemen confirmed this week on his website that the B sample also came back positive.
He has a hearing scheduled Monday before Dutch Olympic and track and field officials and could be removed from the Olympic team.
-- Randy Harvey
PALO ALTO -- Really, it shouldn't be surprising that someone was putting Play-Doh on Dara Torres.
After all, she has a toddler, 2-year-old Tessa.
But it wasn't young Tessa putting it on her leg; it was one of her newly minted Olympic teammates, 18-year-old Allison Schmitt, who wasn't even born when Torres competed in her first Olympics in 1984.
Schmitt, who trains with Club Wolverine and Michael Phelps in Ann Arbor, Mich., under coach Bob Bowman, made her first U.S. Olympic team by finishing second in the 200-meter freestyle behind Katie Hoff at trials. Torres, 41, will be competing in an unprecedented fifth Olympics.
On Saturday, Torres was asked about generation divide on the team, certainly more than a gap.
"How do I explain this?" she said at a media gathering on Saturday at Stanford. "They're all really nice. I've really enjoyed being around them. You can definitely tell there's an age barrier.
"We were at a team meeting and Allison Schmitt had Play-Doh and was spelling my name out on Play-Doh on my leg."
Presumably, Torres didn't return the favor.
"Oh, no. I'm like, 'You're a bad influence,' " Torres said. "She was so funny. Then they rolled it up and made the Olympic rings and put it on my leg."
Torres joked about the youngsters, saying, "I think they have to baby-sit me."
From all accounts, Schmitt has been a burst of fresh air at this training camp. Phelps and Bowman were telling stories from Ann Arbor.
"She's always a character," Phelps said. "She has her little underwater camera that she brings, and we're taking pictures underwater and we're messing around. The one thing she loves is telling jokes. Sometimes they're not that funny. But she always laughs really hard at them. It's fun."
He wasn't sure about her best joke, and so Bowman jumped in: "She actually had a good one, one day. I was so shocked I think I forgot."
-- Lisa Dillman
Photo: Allison Schmitt acknowledges the crowd at the awards ceremony for the 200-meter freestyle. With her are fellow youngsters Katie Hoff, left, and Julia Smit and Caroline Burckle, far right. Credit: Jamie Squire / Getty Images
 Dara Torres this morning was dogged by questions about steroid use. She talked with Lisa Dillman about it at Stanford University, where the swim team worked out.
Though Torres had heard questions about drug use before, they've increased in number and volume since the 41-year-old mother qualified for an unprecedented fifth Olympics.
Torres, who hadn't competed in Olympic trials in eight years, can understand the nature of sport in this post-Barry Bonds, post-Marion Jones world.
"Unfortunately, you can't look someone in the eye and say, 'I'm not taking drugs,' " Torres told Dillman. "You have to take action. I've really tried everything I possibly can to take action and prove that I'm clean." Read the rest of what Torres -- who has won nine Olympic medals -- had to say.
Plenty has been written about Torres, including an online story for The Times by our blogger Philip Hersh a few days ago, and a column by Kurt Streeter that looked at athletes who seem to defy belief. Drugs certainly have devastated the sport of track and field, which Helene Elliott wrote about during the trials. And after the Tour de France became enmeshed once again in a drug problem, Hersh weighed in with a blog item today about Lance Armstrong's teammates, while Diane Pucin tackled the subject in a commentary in today's Times.
-- Debbie Goffa
Photo: Dara Torres during a workout at Stanford University on Saturday. Credit: Tony Avelar / Associated Press
Read on »
 OMAHA -– Dara Torres had been leaning against swimming in both the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle at the Summer Games. She made it offical today, dropping the 100 from her Beijing program.
The beneficiary of her decision was Lacey Nymeyer, who finished third in the 100 free behind Torres and Natalie Coughlin, and now moves into the second slot.
Relays became a factor in the decision. Torres was eager to participate in both the 400 freestyle relay as well as the 400 medley relay. She was facing perhaps as many as three preliminary and final swims in the 100 free, and three more in the 50 free.
That, and the relays, would have been too much, even for the ageless Torres, who is 41.
This was her first Olympic trials in eight years, and Torres became the story in Omaha, if not the United States, by winning the 100 free and 50 free, the latter in an American record time on Sunday night.
-- Lisa Dillman
Photo: Dara Torres celebrates setting a U.S. record on July 6 in the 50-meter free. Credit: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press
Dara Torres, an ever-younger 41, set a U.S. record in the 50-meter freestyle today with a time of 24.25 seconds. Jessica Hardy of Long Beach was second in 24.82.
"I was hoping to go somewhat fast," Torres said. "Because there are girls in the world that are going 24.1's and 23.9. I have five more weeks to drop a couple of tenths to hopefully be in competition with those girls. So I'm very happy with my time. But I've got a lot of work to do."
Torres earlier won the 100 freestyle, putting her on the 400 freestyle relay and perhaps the 400 medley relay. She said she has not decided whether to swim the 100 freestyle at the Olympics. If she skips that individual race, Lacey Nymeyer would take her spot.
"I need to sit down with [U.S. coach] Mark Schubert and talk about the 100," Torres said. "I don't know what I'm going to do with that."
-- Lisa Dillman
Photo: Jessica Hardy, right, hands her stuffed dolphin to Dara Torres' daughter, Tessa, during the awards ceremony for the women's 50-meter freestyle. Torres won and Hardy placed second in the event. Credit: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press
OMAHA -- Jessica Hardy of Long Beach predicted that her freshly minted American record in the 50-meter freestyle, of 24.48 seconds, would not have a long shelf life at the U.S. swimming trials tonight.
"It's going to go down right now," she said after her semifinal swim in which she set the record.
And wouldn't you know it. Forty-one-year old Dara Torres, sufficiently motivated, lowered it in the next heat, to 24.38.
"I'm very competitive and I saw her time," Torres said. "I felt pretty good. I didn't feel like I was hit by a freight train like I was this morning."
Torres, who on Friday night qualified for her fifth Olympic team by winning the 100-meter freestyle, said she got about four hours of sleep because of a series of crank calls. An afternoon nap, though, was rejuvenating.
There is speculation Torres could drop the 100 freestyle and not swim it in Beijing. She said she would make the decision after the final of the 50 free on Sunday night.
"I'm just worried about the 50 and we'll see what happens then," she said.
-- Lisa Dillman
Dara Torres made it into the semifinals of the 50-meter freestyle at the U.S. swimming trials today.
The 41-year-old, who was coming off last night's crowd-stirring victory in the 100-meter freestyle, had the third-best time today -- 24.72 seconds. Lara Jackson had the top time and set an American record with 24.50, trimming .03 seconds off the old mark set last year by none other than Torres.
-- Debbie Goffa
Dara Torres, 41, is headed to her fifth Olympics after winning the 100-meter freestyle in 53.78. Natalie Coughlin was second in 53.83.
"I was very surprised that I won, but I was happy. If this was her first event, it probably would have been as different story," Torres said of Coughlin’s busy event schedule.
They played "American Woman" over the public-address system after Torres won and she spoke of her reaction about going to the Olympics, saying, "I started crying."
Then she added, "I’m ecstatic. I can’t believe it ... it’s sort of bittersweet for me. I made my fifth Olympic team, but I’m going to be away from my daughter for a month and that’s really hard emotionally."
-- Lisa Dillman
Photo: A smiling Dara Torres is hugged by Emily Silver after winning the final of the 100-meter freestyle. Credit: Jamie Squire / Getty Images
OMAHA -- So the moment of truth, or at least one of them, came this morning for 41-year-old Dara Torres when she hit the water in the 11th heat of the 100-meter freestyle preliminaries.
This was the first U.S. Olympic swimming trials for Torres since she greatly unnerved the competition, most notably Jenny Thompson, in 2000 at Indianapolis. This time, however,
Read on »
|
|
|
