Ex-Gator swimmer Torres
an ageless wonder at 41

When you’re a 41-year-old woman and still competing against the top swimmers in the world, the old body doesn’t always work quite like it used to.

For Dara Torres, she’s had rotator cuff surgery and three surgeries on her knees.

However, her ears have always worked fine. And what she’s hearing in the swimming world is spoiling what her supporters think is the feel-good story of these U.S. Olympic Trials.

Of all the swimmers whom cynics accuse of being dopers, Torres is one of the suspects. The only hard evidence is her age and her times.

She has the top time in the U.S. in the 50 freestyle. Her American record 24.53 set last July is more than a second faster than the world record of 25.61 she set when she was 17.

Even her new relationship with David Hoffman, a 56-year-old reproductive endocrinologist, has raised some eyebrows.

Instead of telling the world about the joy of seeking her fifth Olympic team in her 40s after two failed marriages and a baby, she’s defending her credibility after coming out of a second retirement to seek Olympic gold.

‘‘I had some pretty fast times,’’ said Torres during a Tuesday news conference here, ‘‘and (coach) Michael (Lohberg) and I basically sat down and we were like, ‘OK, now people are going to start talking.’ ’’

They did. Various swimming blogs have openly suggested she’s doping. It’s a rumor that has haunted her since she won two relay golds and three individual bronzes in the 2000 Olympics at age 33.

Torres listened and went on the offensive. While in Colorado Springs, Colo., for altitude training in September, she met with Travis Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, and asked to be tested more.

‘‘I said, ‘Look, I want to be an open book,’ ’’ Torres said. ‘‘DNA test me. Blood test me. Urine test me. Whatever you want to do. Just test me because I want people to know that I am doing this right.’’

As part of a new USADA program, Project Believe, she’s one of about a dozen athletes who gets blood and urine taken at any time. Sometimes she’s asked to go to the nearest lab.

‘‘It’s a pain,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s a real pain. But I asked for this and I want to prove that I’m clean, so to me it’s worth it.’’

Lohberg said, ‘‘We can only hope tests do get better and more and more cheaters will be eliminated. We ensure we do what is the right thing to do. That you’re clean. That’s all you can do. My wife swam against the East Germans. She swam for the West German national team. We knew it all the time (they were doping). She came in fourth when we knew they had drugs so she lost a lot of medals.’’

Torres’ supporters, namely about 5,000 swimmers at the Masters World Championships, tell her it would be great to see a 40-year-old in the Olympics. As if she didn’t feel old enough, men’s swimming star Michael Phelps calls her Mom.

But since she returned to training, which includes a relatively short two hours a day five days a week and 90 minutes in the gym four times a week, she has attracted a new following.

‘‘When I first started, people said I was an inspiration,’’ she said. ‘‘But I think it’s been a complete 180 turn. I have so many people coming up to me now and telling me about their stories and what’s changed in their lives and I feel like I’m getting inspiration from other people.’’

So what has been the key?

She began working out a week and a half after giving birth to Tessa in April 2006. Besides Lohberg and a nanny, she has stretchers, a strength-and-conditioning coach and a sprint coach.

‘‘Age is just a number,’’ she said. ‘‘I have great people around me and I’m able to recover and, at my age, it’s all about recovery.‘‘

Her chances of grabbing one of the two 50 freestyle spots Saturday are good. Third-seeded Jessica Hardy’s 24.85 is a good 0.32 slower. Torres will also compete Thursday and Friday in the 100, where her 54.45 is sixth.

If Torres makes it to Beijing as the oldest swimmer to make an Olympiad, she likely won’t medal, but she will receive a lot more questions.

‘‘Unfortunately, there have been athletes in the past who’ve sat there and looked everyone in the eyes and said, ‘I have not taken drugs,’ and now they’re either in jail or being indicted,’’ Torres said. ‘‘You are now guilty until proven innocent.’’