Way to go, Dara!! You’re a great inspiration for all of us older women!
Torres, 41, Becomes Oldest Swimming Medalist – NYTimes.com
Twenty-four years after Dara Torres first dived into an Olympic pool for a freestyle relay, she took the plunge again.
There would be no gold medal Sunday morning to match the one she won with the American team as a teenager, but Torres, now 41, would have no problem keeping up with most of the younger set.
Her much-anticipated anchor leg kept the United States in second place behind the Netherlands, whose team set the world record in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay in March and who won the Olympic gold comfortably in a time of 3 minutes 33.76 seconds.
Torres and the Americans took silver in 3:34.33 and the Australians the bronze in 3:35.05. But for all but the delighted Dutch, Torres’s remarkable comeback was the keepsake from the event that concluded the morning session. The morning also featured the first South Korean gold medal in swimming, by Park Tae Hwan in the men’s 400-meter freestyle, and world records in each 400 individual medley, by Michael Phelps of the United States and Stephanie Rice of Australia.
Torres was already the oldest Olympic female swimming medalist in history, after taking gold in the medley relay in Sydney in 2000. But she is now the oldest swimming medalist of either gender, breaking the century-old standard of Britain’s William Robinson, who was 38 when he won the silver in the 200 breaststroke in the 1908 Games.
4 Responses
I don’t find Ms. Torres’s age worthy of note myself. She’s just another athlete at the Olympics–and I mean that in a good way. It is not people out of their twenties who make a big deal out of their ages, or who promote the stereotype that they are washed up.
I didn’t say that very well. I mean that it seems the ridiculous youth-oriented press/culture makes a big deal out of it if someone over about 22 manages to walk without aid, or “horrors” performs well in some physical endeavor.
By the way, the female winner in the Falmouth Road Race was 41, running in the “Masters” division.
Oh, I know, but I still think it’s cool that she did swim such a great race. I would love to see more older athletes in the Olympics, instead of just the youth oriented focus.
Great achievement for Ms. Torres. I think age is of minimal importance in excelling in a field one loves the most. But I think it is common among us to single out someone who is either the youngest or oldest in a particular field..but I think nothing’s wrong with that. It is not discriminating or negative.