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During the 2008 Summer Olympics, we heard countless inspirational stories about the athletes who were there to compete. Every competitor was special and had an inspiring story of the determination, setbacks, and hard work that got them there. But I can't think of anyone more inspiring to me than Dara Torres. After winning her first Olympic gold medal 24 years prior, she had already come out of retirement twice, won nine Olympic medals, and became the first swimmer to quality for five Olympics games. Age is Just a Number Being in her 40’s also brought a new set of challenges for this Olympic athlete to contend with. As we age, our bodies need more recovery time after working out, and Torres is no different. She told Glamour magazine (where she was featured as one of "The 11 Greatest Bodies on Earth") that she has to keep her workouts shorter, which means they have to be very intense. And like the rest of us, she struggles with the workouts sometimes. She says there are days when she feels like she is swimming with a piano on her back. Since I am just one year shy of 40 myself, it sounds younger all the time. But to be 41 and an Olympic athlete is very uncommon. The average age on the U.S. Swim team is 22.8 years—Torres had most of them beat by 18 years. In one TV interview, she talked about stepping onto the blocks to race. She looked at her teammates on her right and left and thought, "I am old enough to be their mom!" And Torres is a mother. During her pregnancy with her daughter, who was two-years-old during the Beijing Olympics, she swam (non-competitively) for fun and to stay in shape. Although retired at the time, she was eager to get come out of retirement yet again. The moment after giving birth, Torres asked her doctor when she could start working out again! At the U.S. Olympic trials in July 2008, Torres told TIME magazine that she literally nursed her child before jumping on the blocks and racing. There, she set an American record in the 50-meter freestyle and won the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter freestyle race. She swam 2.47 seconds faster than her 1988 Olympic effort as a 20-year-old! Many people say that people get slower with age, and most female athletes reach their peaks before they're 25. Good thing Torres didn’t listen! Continued › |
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Jason Anderson
Jason loves to see people realize the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle. He is a certified personal trainer and enjoys running races--from 5Ks to 50K ultramarathons. See all of Jason's articles. |
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Member Comments
I'm a self-professed Olympics junkie. The first and foremost memory for me from everything that happened at the Beijing Games in 2008 was right before the Women's 50m Freestyle Semifinal when the swimmers came out to head to the blocks, the suit of another swimmer (Sweden's Therese Alshammar) ripped and Dara stopped to help her attempt to get it together. When it ripped again, Dara flagged down the officials to stop the race so that Therese could get changed into another suit, which she did.
Dara still managed to get focused and blistered the field in the semifinals enroute to a silver by 1/100th of a second setting an American record in the process (the 10th time she has set that record personally and still holds it today). 35 minutes later she was back in the pool winning a silver in the 4x100 medley with a Freestyle split that was more than a second faster than the individual American record in the 100 Freestyle at the time.
Still, with all of the records and medals, it's that one act of helping another competitor so that she wouldn't miss the chance at a possible medal (Therese won 3 medals in Sydney) that stands out to me to show what kind of person she truly is.
I seriously hope that if she does indeed make the team for 2012 in London that she is the flag-bearer during Opening Ceremonies. Team USA could certainly do a lot worse than to make that happen. - 5/16/2012 6:33:19 PM
m/vision-collage
(Like the collage, but electronic.)
At 43 I finished losing 170-180 lbs and discovered white water kayaking. I took up snowboarding this past winter. It takes more effort to stay in shape - I really work at the cardio and strength training during the week to support my weekend activities.
But as a result I'm keeping pace with my college-age friends, racing with them in pentathlons, running waterfalls, etc.
It's totally worth it. - 5/10/2011 8:34:44 AM
I was doing lots of trick dives into the pool with my daughters last week. I was a bit worried about doing a handstand dive. My younger daughter, 14, said 'Mum, be careful. You're too old.' My older daughter egged me on. I did it. My older daughter is 20. My sons are 26 and 29. I am 55.
Get fit. Stay fit, and age really can be just a number! - 5/10/2011 4:05:00 AM
One should respect one's age-but not use it as a limiting crutch.
I'm 50, not 25, but I still like to get out there and stay active. My 87 year old father was recently told he needs to get out and be more physically and mentally active.
It's important for everyone! - 3/4/2011 10:30:01 AM
See my blog for November 7th. this year. I hiked to the TOP of Mt. Wrightson over 9,000 feet for my 65th. birthday celebration! - 11/17/2009 9:14:52 AM