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Home › Politics

Politics | 08/18/2008 12:25 pm

Dara Torres, 41-Year-Old Mom and Oldest Female Swimmer Won Three Silver Medals

By The Staff at wowOwow.com
Dara Torres
Dara Torres © AP
Dara Torres, aka "Mother Torres," the 41-year-old mom and the oldest female swimmer in Olympic history, is leaving her fifth Olympics with three silver medals.

Torres capped her remarkable comeback by winning two silver medals on the final day of the Olympic swimming meet — missing gold by 1/100th of a second (a fingernail, she says) in the 50-meter freestyle and anchoring the 4x100 medley relay to a second-place finish to Australia about 35 minutes later.

Torres rocketed out of a six-year retirement, bounced back from childbirth, overcame two surgeries in the past eight months and became the best American female sprinter — again — through nothing more than hard work and sensational talent.

wOw reported last month that reporters referred to Torres as "ageless." Torres spoke to a line of reporters last night about her age, and according to The New York Times, she delivered variations of these messages:

"Age is just a number."

"The water doesn’t know how old you are."

When USA Today asked Torres whether she’ll make another comeback, she left much up to the imagination.

"No," she told USA Today. "I said that in 2000, but no."

wOw hopes to see Torres in 2012.

Read more about: Aging, Beijing, Dara Torres, Motherhood, News, Olympics, Swimming

11 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Lorraine Bates
What Dara Torres did this week is an amazing feat at any age. Congratulations, Dara!
By Lorraine Bates on 08/18/2008 11:30 am
Frank Peterson
Amazing feat and she only lost the gold by a hundreth of a decond! Congrats Dara, Well done indeed.
By Frank Peterson on 08/18/2008 12:59 pm
Sharon Lee
Dara has done a lot to break down those age barriers. It’s not just in sports, but in all walks of life. Age is a number, not an ability, or physical health, or strength. I see women every day of my life who are striving to overcome the age barrier in careers, in education, and (of course) in appearance. Good for all of us.
By Sharon Lee on 08/18/2008 1:02 pm
Dona Howlett
Congrats Dara. Love watching her swim. She didn’t win the Gold at the Olympics but I’ll bet she’ll get a lot of gold for advertising………..she’s talented, ambitious and beautiful…………what a combination.
By Dona Howlett on 08/18/2008 6:22 pm
Bonnie Oliver
Dara Torres was fabulous! All silvery.
By Bonnie Oliver on 08/18/2008 6:52 pm
Jeannot Kensinger
Congratulations Dara , what a lovely swimmer.
By Jeannot Kensinger on 08/19/2008 8:00 am
Jill J
Well done Dara!
By Jill J on 08/19/2008 8:50 am
James the Game
“The water doesn’t know how old you are”!!!
By James the Game on 08/19/2008 10:10 am
K O
About this “hundreth of a second” thing, Mr. Kitty and I were talking about the possibility of setting some standard at which we just call it a “tie.” I voted for a “fiftieth of a second.” With the technological ability we have now, we’ll be having the difference between gold, silver and bronze in squillionths soon. I’d be interested in what others think about this.
By K O on 08/19/2008 11:35 am
HA BIBI
Way to go Dara!!! Girl power over forty and one is never to old to accomplish great feats. I agree with James, “The water does not know your age.”
By HA BIBI on 08/19/2008 5:23 pm
Frannie Em
In her career 41 year old Dara Torres has won 11 Olympic medals. I was so totally impressed with her races. She won a silver, got out of the pool, stood and received her medal, had to leave and get into the next race, and received another silver. She was the last leg of the relay race and entered the pool after the leader, she had to make up that time and actually swam faster than the leader because she ended up only 1/100th of a second slower. It was riveting. The leader she was racing against was 16 years old. What a tremendous athlete. An inspiration for us all.
By Frannie Em on 08/19/2008 8:50 pm