Dara Torres

Since her first international race at the age of 14, Dara Torres has proven that she is far from your average athlete. As a student at the University of Florida, she earned the maximum possible number of 28 NCAA All–American swimming awards. As the first US swimmer to compete in four Olympic Games, Dara set three World records and won nine Olympic medals, including four gold. In the Sydney Olympic Games alone, after a seven–year break from competitive swimming, Dara won gold in the 400m freestyle and 400m MR and bronze in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, and the 100m butterfly. After the 2000 Olympics, Dara retired again to start a family, but dove right back into swimming in the 2006 Masters Nationals where she broke a world record, just three weeks after her daughter's birth. And in August 2007 Dara won another National title and broke her own 7 year old American Record in the 50 Freestyle.

Outside of swimming, Dara has made a name for herself as a TV commentator and a print model and was the first athlete to appear in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in 1994. She was a feature correspondent for Good Morning America, worked on–air for ESPN, TNT and Fox News Channel including stints on NHL Cool Shots and Fox Sports Sunday.

Six–time Olympic coach Michael Lohberg described Torres's drive as "just amazing," "To make a run at the Olympics for a 40–year–old mother seems totally out of the question .... But Dara is not measured by normal standards. She is truly an exception, defying several laws of life." (Swimnews.com)

Torres has successfully made her comeback to competitive swimming by making her 5th Olympic squad. She won a total of 3 silver medals at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

Works by this Speaker

Gold Medal Fitness

Dara Torres has been to the Olympics five times, she's won twelve medals, and now, at the age of 42, she still competes with girls half her age and is one of the most celebrated swimmers of all time. But you don't need to list her accolades to understand why people admire her athleticism so much—just look at her! Perfect abs, enviable arms—she's as strong as can be and continues to redefine established wisdom about staying in shape at any age. So, what's her secret?
 
In Gold Medal Fitness you'll find all of Torres's tips for getting back into the game and staying in shape for many years to come. Her unique combination of stretching and strengthening exercises both tone and elongate your muscles, leaving you with that perfectly sculpted and slender shape. And in this revolutionary 5-week program, she's adapted her workout plan for you!
 
Torres will take you step by step through a nutrition plan to prepare for the workouts. She'll walk you through the strengthening and stretching exercises, including the Ki-Hara method that has transformed her body. She'll give you hints on how to enjoy your cardiovascular activities. And, finally, she'll share her wisdom about rest and recovery and why it is as essential for your body as your training.
 
Whether you're looking to lose those last ten pounds or get back into a sport that you used to love, Gold Medal Fitness will produce the results that you want, reignite how you feel in your own skin, and change your lifestyle.

• More about this title

Age Is Just a Number

From legendary Olympic gold medalist Dara Torres comes a motivational, inspirational memoir about staying fit, aging gracefully, and pursuing your dreams.

Dara Torres captured the hearts and minds of Americans of all ages when she launched her Olympic comeback as a new mother at the age of forty-one—years after she had retired from competitive swimming and eight years since her last Olympics. When she took three silver medals in Beijing—including a heartbreaking .01-second finish behind the gold medalist in the women’s 50-meter freestyle—America loved her all the more for her astonishing achievement and her good-natured acceptance of the results.

Now, in Age Is Just a Number, Dara reveals how the dream of an Olympic comeback first came to her—when she was months into her first, hard-won pregnancy. With humor and candor, Dara recounts how she returned to serious training—while nursing her infant daughter and contending with her beloved father’s long battle with cancer.

Dara talks frankly about diving back in for this comeback; about being an older athlete in a younger athletes’ game; about competition, doubt, and belief; about working through pain and uncertainty; and finally—about seizing the moment and, most important, never giving up. A truly self-made legend, her story will resonate with women of all ages—and with anyone daring to entertain a seemingly impossible dream.

• More about this title