Dara Torres: 2012 Olympic Games a 'possibility'
Posted: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 12:49 PM by Jen Brown
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| Pedro Ugarte / AFP - Getty Images file |
| Dara Torres finished second in the women's 50m freestyle at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. |
After winning three silver medals in Beijing at the age of 41, swimmer Dara Torres swore the only way she would be at the 2012 Olympics was as a commentator.
Just over a month later, however, the only American swimmer to compete in five Olympic Games is already showing signs of changing her tune about a sixth.
“I don’t think I’m done swimming,” Torres said after appearing on
Wednesday’s TODAY (video).Torres underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery at the end of August, and was back in the water two weeks later. Many of her teammates, including Cullen Jones, Brendan Hansen and Aaron Peirsol,
who appeared with her on TODAY, have yet return to the pool.
“Normally, after the Olympics I don’t want to get near the water,” Torres said. “But I don’t have that feeling like I’m done.”
Torres, who will be 45 at the London Games, says that’s “a little old.” But at 41 she is still the fastest American woman in the 50 m freestyle, having set that record in Beijing. She took silver in that race, just .01 seconds behind German Britta Steffen. She also won silver in the 4x100 freestyle and 4x100 medley relays -- an impressive feat for anyone, let alone a 41-year-old mother.
Still, for the ultra-competitive Torres, having taken silver rather than gold might mean she has unfinished business.
“I don’t know yet,” she said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Click here for TODAY's full coverage from Beijing.
