That night, she was a mother.

“Four pushes and she was out,” Torres said. “I guess it was all those ab exercises.”

A year ago, just a few months after giving birth, she joined swimming’s version of the senior circuit, looking for a way to get reconnected to the sport after being away for seven years. Even though she was still breast-feeding between races, Torres put up some surprisingly fast times at the masters world championships. Amazingly, her body felt looser and more flexible than it did before she had a child.

“I had so many older swimmers come up to me and say, ’Wow, it would really great to see a swimmer in her 40s swimming at the Olympic Games,”’ she said. “Now mind you, there were about 5,000 swimmers there, and everyone is telling me this. It kind of gets you motivated.”

Before long, Torres was putting up times that were just fractions of a second off those at the peak of her career. She decided to quit swimming with the old-timers and dive in with those grew up idolizing her.

“I was one of those little girls in 2000 going, ’Oh wow, there’s Dara Torres and Amanda Beard and all the others,”’ Leverenz said with a giggle. “Now, I’m getting to swim with them.”

During Torres’ last comeback, she credited a carefully scripted training regimen for helping her get to Australia. She’s still taking nothing to chance, bringing along to Indy an entourage that includes two “stretchers” and a masseuse.

She also knows that plenty of people were suspicious of her performance in Sydney, figuring that it must have been aided by performance-enhancing drugs.

“It’s too bad that people in the past used drugs,” Torres said, “so when someone does something that’s a little out of the ordinary, they get tainted too.”

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If people were whispering behind Torres’ back when she was 33, imagine what they might say if he makes it to the Olympics in her 40s? Looking to cut off any rumors before they get started, she went to USA Swimming and asked to be subjected to extra testing, including blood work, in hopes of showing that she’s totally clean.

In the past six weeks, Torres has been tested three times.

“It’s a pain,” she said, “but it’s worth it for all the naysayers out there. Here are all my drug tests and they’re all negative. Those guys can say what they want, but here are the facts.”

Torres’ goal is to make the Olympic team in the 50 freestyle and swim well enough in the 100 to earn a spot on the 400 free relay team. With a year to go, she’s already a legitimate contender.

“She’s got as good a shot as anybody,” Leverenz said. “If anybody can do it, she can.”

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