Never Say Never

These remarkable athletes prove that attitude trumps everything, no matter how steep the odds.

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One Swimmer's Historic Bid

A hard, cold rain sweeps over an outdoor pool at the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex in South Florida, driving bystanders to huddle under an awning.

In the pool, Dara Torres keeps swimming. Lap after methodical lap, flip turn after flip turn, she cuts through her lane with a muscular freestyle. And when lifeguards sound a lightning alarm, warning the swimmers out of the pool, she persists, refusing to be deterred even as the storm builds.


At 41, nearly twice the age of most world-class athletes in her sport, Torres has defied more than just weather in her historic bid to become the first over-40 swimmer to compete in the Olympic Games. She's also ignored conventional wisdom and the dismissive comments of other athletes.

"Some competitors of mine say I'm too old," says Torres, a four-time Olympian who's won four gold medals and is the mother of a two-year-old girl. "Someone was quoted saying, 'I don't know why she's still swimming. She should be staying home taking care of her kid.' As long as I'm swimming as fast as they are, what's the problem?"

Actually, she's swimming faster. The Olympic trials begin on June 29, and Torres is currently the fastest American woman in her event: the 50-meter freestyle.

"You shouldn't put an age on your dreams," she says. "People need to try, not say, 'I can't do this because I'm too old.' "
-By Robert Spencer Knotts

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Because he works in construction, my husband thinks he can figure out pretty much any home repair himself. So after a wheel broke off the foot of our bed, I was surprised when he asked, "Hey, hon, can you get me that fix-it book you bought?"

The next day, I looked down to where the broken wheel had been. In its place, propping up the bed, was the book.

 

-- Nicole Vidak

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