Dara Torres - The Magician
GOLF - LPGA
ARCHETYPE: THE MAGICIAN
Day 31/135
Athletic Accomplishments
Dara Torres is the first swimmer to represent the United States in 5 different Olympic Games, racking up 12 medals (4 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze) and world records in three separate events. It would be hard enough to do that in 5 consecutive Olympics, but that’s not how Torres rolls.
She competed in her first three Olympic Games in 1984, 1988, and 1992, which seems normal enough for someone who’s already a freak athlete.
She then took an 8 year break from competitive swimming before deciding to jump back in. At age 33, Torres qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games as the oldest on the U.S. swimming team and won 5 medals — 2 gold and 3 bronze — before leaving competitive swimming again.
But don’t call it a comeback! Because another 8 years later — at age 41 and only 16 months after having her first baby — Torres broke the American record in the 50-meter freestyle and qualified for the 2008 Olympics, as once again the oldest on the team. This time, she competed in 3 events and won silver in each of them.
Everything about her late career comeback seemed so improbable that Torres preempted questions about cheating by volunteering for an enhanced drug-testing program by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. “I want to be an open book,” Torres said. "I want people to know that I'm 41, and I'm doing this right. I'm clean."
Character Archetype: The Magician
I remember hearing Dara Torres explain that she did 90 minutes of abs every day. And that wasn’t even the most impressive thing about her.
Torres won her first Olympic gold medal in 1984. So, how is it possible that she was still in the pool in 2008—24 years later—winning medals and setting records?
Torres’s career included 12 Olympic medals and not one, but TWO comebacks from competitive swimming—the first in 2000 and the second in 2008. Before qualifying for the 2008 Games, Torres won the 100m freestyle—at age 40, and just 16 months after having her first child.
Dara Torres is a science project. She makes Benjamin Button look old. Her career is only explainable by one thing: WITCHCRAFT.