Dara Torres Is Paying For Everyone's Sins

Granted, a 41-year-old woman breaking all sorts of swimming records is a red flag in today's performance-enhanced sports world, but is she being unfairly scrutinized?

Torres appeared on Dan Patrick's show today to speak about the myriad questions the media "has to ask" her in order to convince them (and all the non-believers) in her un-enhanced athletic ability.

Torres says she's taking a "proactive" approach, asking for any and all tests available to prove that, yes, she's actually a 41-year-old mother of two who is beating women almost half her age in her sport. "If I was taking something, do you think I would ask to be tested?" , she said. Torres said the only things she puts in her body (besides food and babies) are "Protein, amino acids, and vitamins."

The SF Gate's Gwen Knapp — who recently called Tiger Woods an idiot — says there's absolutely a double standard in the way Torres is being treated:

Performance alone rarely triggers widespread suspicion in the media, but it sufficed for accusations against Torres and, 20 years ago, Florence Griffith-Joyner. The same scrutiny does not apply to men until they have a failed test on their record, federal investigators on their tails or a member of their entourage under indictment.

Unfortunately, there aren't enough tests out there for Torres to take. It's not because she's a woman, but since the media threw its arms around so many seemingly miraculous heroes so many times, only to find them pop up on an HGH list here, in the cellphones of an indicted personal trainer there, it's harder than every for stories that are too good to be true to be anything but fairy tales. Sucks for her, but that's the price you pay for being absurdly great at something.

Dara Torres Gives Dan A Hard Time [SI] Is Dara Torres Clean? I'm a believer [MSNBC} Does Dara Torres Suffer From A Double Standard Of Doping Scrutiny? [Steroid Nation]