Unbelievable, amazing and inspiring. Those are three words I can think of that describe Olympic swimmer, Dara Torres, who at the age of 41 qualified for her 5th Olympics by winning the 100m freestyle at this week’s Olympic Trials in Omaha.
The fact that Dara Torres qualified after taking 7 years off is amazing and a true tribute to hard work and dedication. The fact that Dara Torres has been able to train and stay focused on her goal while being a Mom to her two year old daughter is just inspiring. I know she isn’t the first Mom who was an Olympic athlete at the same time, but there sure aren’t many of them!
Womens Health Magazine did a really nice interview with Dara that goes into her motivation, training and thoughts on her comeback.
Photo - AP
3 Comments»
Terence
5. July 2008 | 14:29 hWhy are we celebrating Torres’ accomplishments? She (her partner) invested $100k into her training, diet and conditioning. Many amateur athletes don’t have the means or funding to afford them her program. She’s competing on a stage where a large majority of the athletes are college students and are trying to balance academics with training. There is nothing wrong with her wanting to compete at any age - but the recognition that she is receiving is not what the Olympic Games are about and furthermore it’s not a direction that I would like to see swimming take… Younger swimmers will look at Torres and think that the reason they are not beating her is because the customized program that she has financed through sponsorship. As I said before, I have no problem with athletes continuing to compete regardless of age. An athlete like Torres however, who has already had the opportunity to fulfill many athletes’ dreams - to represent their country in the Olympic Games - (and she’s done it 4 times!) should step back and ask herself: 1) Why am I doing this? If the answer is “because I’m 41 and I have the means and motivation to do it” then that is a poor answer simply because of the relative stage she’s competing on.
Finally, there has been so much talk about her 2 year old daughter. The camera crew at the Trials kept giving the audience a glimpse of her daughter in the audience. Rowdy Gaines’ colleague mentions that her daughter says “she wants to see Mommy swim” Cute. Torres said the reason she got back in the pool was because of her daughter. The time that Torres spends each day in training is time apart from her daughter. Is that a good thing? I’m not trying to evaluate her parenting ability. Just trying to point out the irony of this whole story - we are celebrating Torres’ accomplishment and her berth on a 5th Olympic team - a 41 year old mother who invested time and money into her training. To me it’s just plain selfish - she has absolutely nothing to prove and she has effectively changed the sport of swimming and taken away a spot on an Olympic team from another more deserving athlete.
Alejandra
9. July 2008 | 13:34 hPlease do not anyone respond to this ridiculous post. This person is a troll. She has posted the same post on other sites where there was an article published about Dara Torres and her recent success.
This a bitter person who has decided to spend her time bashing Dara on the internet.
Given the idiocy of her comments and her agenda, do not bother to respond.
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