Dara Torres gave her teammates a push

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BEIJING -- Dara Torres acknowledged that she often felt like a stepmom or big sister to her younger -- much younger -- teammates during these Olympics Games. But the 41-year-old was surprised to hear that some of her advice had gone public.

‘She was actually talking about childbirth in the ready room,’ relay teammate Kara Lynn Joyce said of Torres, who gave birth two years ago. ‘She said it was painful. Swimming is painful, but nothing compares to that.’

At one point Torres even mimicked her experience -- much to her later chagrin.

‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you heard about that,’ she told reporters. ‘I think I was asking Libby [Australia’s Lisbeth Trickett] about whether she was going to have children or keep swimming. I was mimicking how you have a baby. I was pretending to be in the stirrups.

‘I felt so much better after childbirth, more flexible. And I told them, ‘Hey, if I can do it, you can do it.’ ‘

-- Kevin Baxter