Dara Torres
As a 41-year-old mother, Dara Torres won three silver medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. The accomplishment made her the oldest swimmer ever to reach the Olympics and also the first swimmer to qualify for five Olympics. Torres was only 17 when she won her first Olympic gold medal as part of the 4x100 meter freestyle relay in 1984 in Los Angeles. She then swam at the University of Florida, where she continued to build her reputation as a freakish natural talent with a fierce competitive streak. She won nine Olympic medals in all while competing at Los Angeles, Seoul (1988), Barcelona (1992), and then at Sydney (2000), where she won five medals despite having been retired from swimming for most of the 1990s. At Beijing she won medals in the 50-meter freestyle, the 4x100 freestyle relay, and the 4x100 medley relay. She also is a familiar figure on TV, where she has been a commentator for ESPN, NBC and other networks.
Extra credit: Torres graduated from the University of Florida in 1990 with a degree in telecommunications... Her 2000 appearance made Torres the first American to swim in four Olympics... Her daughter, Tessa Grace, was born in 2006 to Torres and her partner, Dr. David Hoffman... Torres was the first athlete ever to appear in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, in 1994.
Another woman who swam in the Olympics as a teenager: Gertrude Ederle.
Dara Torres appears with fellow mom Heidi Klum in our loop on Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models.
Blog posts mentioning Dara Torres:
Olympic Swimmer Update