The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women

Features thousands of biographic and thematic essays on Jewish women around the world. Learn more

Dara Torres

b. April 15, 1967

by JWA Staff
Our work to expand the Encyclopedia is ongoing. We are providing this brief biography for Dara Torres until we are able to commission a full entry.

Dara Torres, a five-time Olympic athlete, waves to the crowd after taking silver in the women's 50m freestyle event in Beijing, August 17, 2008.

Image courtesy of Bryan Allison.

An athlete of remarkable endurance and drive, twelve-time Olympic medalist Dara Torres is the only American swimmer to have competed in five Olympics. Torres began swimming at age seven, and by her teens was competing for the Mission Viejo Nadadores. She attended the University of Florida on a swimming scholarship, graduating in 1990 with a BA in telecommunications. In her first Olympic games in 1984, she won a gold medal for the 100–meter relay. She went on to compete in the 1988, 1992, 2000, and 2008 Olympics, winning five medals in 2000, more than anyone else on her team. In 2008, the oldest–ever female Olympic swimmer at age 41 (and having given birth only a year earlier), she won two silver medals for 100-meter medley relay and 50–meter freestyle, breaking the American freestyle record she had set at age fifteen. Over the course of her career, she won four gold, four silver, and four bronze medals at the Olympics and broke the American record speeds for 50–meter freestyle ten times, more than any American swimmer in any event. Torres has worked as a reporter and sports commentator for NBC, ESPN, and the Fox News Channel, among others.

How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Dara Torres." (Viewed on November 28, 2023) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/torres-dara>.

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