Olympic Swimmer Dara Torres' New Challenge

By all appearances, Dara Torres is "living the life." On the cover of Time Magazine, clowning on the Tonight Show, her 41-year-old chiseled physique is the talk at every water cooler as she goes after a tenth Olympic medal.

Torres arrives in Beijing as one of the most popular American Olympians.

But behind the scenes, the tough-as-nails competitor faces a new challenge no amount of training can fix, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella.

Two weeks after Torres made the Olympic team, the man who helped her get there, personal coach and friend Michael Lohberg, was diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia-a rare and potentially fatal blood disorder.

"I was waiting to go to practice, and I was just crying uncontrollably," she says.

Instead of being poolside in Beijing, he's bedridden in Bethesda, Maryland, after emergency blood transfusions at the National Institutes of Health.

"It's real tough not having Michael here," Torres says. "It's all we've talked about the past almost two years leading up to this, and even though I'm doing this for both of us, I definitely feel like I'm .. a part of me is missing not having him here."

"You want to finish it as a team," Lohberg told Cobiella from his hospital bed.

"So it must be hard for you being here," Cobiella asked.

"Oh yeah, it's very hard ... I want nothing more than to be there, but at the same time, I could be dead, so that's the alternative in plain English."

It's another stroke of bad news for USA Swimming. Eric Shanteau is battling testicular cancer; Jessica Hardy is off the team because of a positive drug test; and now this.

Torres has been meeting with the team psychiatrist, and the team USA head coach says she's trying to stay focused on the water.

"She also knows that Michael wants her to do a very good job, so I think that gives her motivation to get the job done here and not be more of a distraction," USA swimming coach Mark Schubert says. " … She will do whatever it takes-she will. It will be tough, she will follow a few times, but when she is on that block in that relay on the weekend, you'll see."

"I feel like I'm going out there to Beijing and doing this for Michael and making Michael proud," Torres says. "And hopefully putting a smile on his face."

Those interested in donating money to help defray the medical expenses for Coach Michael Lohberg may mail contributions to:

MICHAEL LOHBERG
CHARITABLE DONATION ACCOUNT
BankAtlantic
4695 N University Drive
Coral Springs, FL 33067
Payable to: Michael Lohberg

Click here to access the Lohberg fund's web site.