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Dara Grace Torres was born April 15, 1967 in Los Angeles, California. She attended the Westlake School for Girls in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The CIF records she set there have yet to be broken. She attended the University of Florida and received 28 All-American honors.

Torres is the author of the upcoming book, Age is Just a Number: Achieve Your Dreams at Any Stage In Your Life, which hits stands on April 7th.

Torres made her debut in Los Angeles in 1984. She won gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay, her only event at those Games. But she returned in 1988, earning a silver and bronze, then decided to retire in 1989. But it wasn't long before she returned to the pool, fueled by a replay of her seventh-place finish in the 100m free. She began training again and competed in Barcelona in 1992, earning another gold in the 4x100m free relay. Torres then retired for a second time. Seven years later, a friend suggested she consider a return to the sport. Torres, then 32, admits she thought it was a "crazy idea," but after talking to coach Richard Quick, decided to move to Palo Alto to begin training. Incredibly, the Sydney Games proved to be Torres' most successful; she won two more gold medals, both in relays, and earned her first individual Olympic medals: three bronzes medals in the 50m free, 100m free and 100m butterfly.

Torres began swimming during her pregnancy in 2005 as a way to stay in shape. She swam three or four times a week, with no intentions of staging a comeback. But after giving birth to daughter Tessa in April 2006, Torres' first question was, "When can I start working out again?" She launched her Olympic campaign in August 2006, recruiting full-time trainers to help her return to form. Her team of assistants includes her coach, Michael Lohberg, as well as two stretchers, a strength coach, two massage therapists and a sprint coach.

Torres has competed in five Olympic competitions. During her retirement from swimming she has worked as a reporter and announcer for television networks, NBC, ESPN, TNT, OLN and Fox News. She hosts a golf show called the Clubhouse on the Resort Sports network. She has been a model and in 1994 she was in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Heading into Olympic Trials, Torres was on the radar as a wild card. Torres had not competed much since a shoulder operation in November 2007, though she seemed to have a good chance to qualify for her fifth Olympics on a relay. But Torres had more than a relay in mind. She won three silver medals in Beijing, bringing her career total to 12. That ties her for first with Jenny Thompson for the most for a U.S. female Olympian. Her meet started on the first day of finals, when she anchored the U.S. 4x100m free relay team, and ended on the last, when she anchored the 4x100 medley relay team. She also won a silver in the 50m free, losing the gold by just .01 of a second. Torres already was the oldest U.S. swimming gold medalist at 33 in in Sydney. At age 41, she's the oldest Olympic swimming medalist in history. She's also the only swimmer to win a medal in five Olympics.

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