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Dara Torres
(1967- )
Dara Torres was born in Beverly Hills, California.
She is asprinter who held the world best time in the 50m freestyle from
1983-'86 (25.62), and set the American record in the 100m freestyle
(55.30) in 1988. Torres retired from swimming for the first time in
1989, after a stellar career at the University of Florida, including
28 All-America honors. She then began a career in television, taking
a post as a sports research assistant for NBC.
In January 1991, after two years away from the pool,
Torres put her TV career on hold and began training for the 1992 Games.
With three Olympic relay team medals to her credit (1984: 400m freestyle,
gold; 1988: 400m medley, silver; 400m freestyle, bronze), her aim was
to win an individual medal. Within weeks of her comeback, Torres was
setting records in the 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly. Though she
fell short of her personal goal, Torres won gold as a member of the
world-record setting 400m freestyle relay team in Barcelona. In the
fall of 1992, Torres returned to broadcasting, working as a host and
reporter for the Discovery Channel, ESPN, TNT and Fox News Channel,
as well as a spokesperson for the Tae-Bo workout tapes.
By 2000, Dara had won 9 Olympic Medals in four Olympics
and become one of the most recognizable female athletes.
Source: Sports
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