41 Year Old Mom Is Going To Olympics

I was so amazed at Dara Grace Torres as I watched her compete for a spot in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. At 41 years old and a mother to a two year old girl, she finished first against swimmers nearly half her age in the 100-meter freestyle last Friday and then set an American record on Sunday in the 50-meter freestyle trials. She is setting yet another record as the oldest swimmer to ever make the American swim team and as the first swimmer from US to compete in five Olympics. She first represented the United States in the Olympics in 1984 in Los Angeles. She was 17 then, and the prodigy of American swim team, Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff, hadn't even been born yet. She will be going to Beijing for the Olympic games in August with Natalie Coughlin (who I learned is a Filipino-Irish) and Jessica Hardy. By the way she already confirmed that she is pulling out of the 100-meter freestyle competition so she can focus her efforts on the 50-meter freestyle, so it means that the third finisher Lacey Nymeyer will be taking her position in the Beijing Olympics.

Dara Torres is an inspiration, It just goes to show that age doesn't matter if you want to achieve your dream. Torres said that she considers herself a working mom and she just finds a good balance between training and motherhood, but her first and foremost priority is still her young daughter.