Tag Archives: Dara Torres

Dara Torres Named Swimming & Diving Coach at Boston College

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Dara Torres is diving into a new opportunity…

Boston College has hired the 57-year-old Cuban-American five-time Olympian as its swimming and diving coach to help the school rebuild the program after a hazing scandal.

Dara Torres

Torres, a 12-time Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in three events, will coach both the men and women.

“From the moment we met with Dara, it was evident that she was exactly the fit we were looking for to begin a fresh, new chapter of Boston College swimming and diving,” BC athletic director Blake James said in a statement. “Her record as a world-class competitor is historic and her ability to clearly articulate her vision as a coach and leader will allow our student-athletes to develop and excel in and out of the pool.”

BC suspended the swimming and diving programs last fall after allegations that freshmen were coerced into binge drinking and told to wear plastic bags around their necks to catch the vomit. Head coach Joe Brinkman, diving coach Jack Lewis and two assistants were fired after the school found “a team culture that has failed to meet the expectations Boston College holds for its student-athletes.”

Torres was a 28-time All-American at Florida and was named the 1988 Southeastern Conference Female Athlete of the Year.

She held six world records and 10 American records in a career that spanned Olympics from 1984-2008, where she won four gold medals, four silver and four bronze.

Dara Torres Named to U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame

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It’s the (Hall of) Fame game forDara Torres…

The 52-year-old Cuban American former competitive swimmer has been named to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame‘s class of 2019. 

Dara Torres,

Torres is a 12-time medalist and former world record-holder in three events. She is the first swimmer to represent the United States in five Olympic Games (1984, 1988, 1992, 2000 and 2008), and at age 41, was the oldest swimmer to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic team. 

At the 2008 Beijing Games, she competed in the 50-meter freestyle, 4×100-meter medley relay, and 4×100-meter freestyle relay, and won silver medals in all three events.

Torres has won 12 Olympicmedals (four gold, four silver, four bronze), one of three women with the most Olympic women’s swimming medals. She also won at least one medal in each of the five Summer Games in which she has competed, making her one of only a handful of Olympians to earn medals in five different Games.

The rest of the class: Champion gymnast Nastia Liukin, once-shunned track stars Tommie Smithand John Carlos, Candace Cable, Erin Popovich, Chris Waddell(Paralympics), Lisa Leslie(basketball), Misty May-Treanor(beach volleyball), Apolo Anton Ohno(short track speedskating), the 1998 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team, Ron O’Brien(diving coach) and Tim Nugent(special contributor).

The USOPC will hold an induction ceremony on November 1 in Colorado Springs, Colorado — the first since 2012.

After the Hall of Fame essentially stalled out, the USOPC’s Sarah Hirshlandpushed to revive it as part of a federation effort to focus more on athletes.

“We thank them for their impact on sport and society, and for continuing to inspire the next generation of athletes and fans,” Hirshland said.

Lochte Helps Team USA Win Swimming Gold in the 4×200 Freestyle Relay

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2016 Rio Games

Ryan Lochte has surpassed a swimming icon…

The 32-year-old half-Cuban American swimmer won his first gold medal of 2016 Rio Games and his 12th overall, swimming the third leg for the victorious U.S. 4×200 freestyle relay team on Tuesday night.

Ryan Lochte

With the gold medal performance, Lochte passed Mark Spitz to become the second most decorated male Olympic swimmer of all time.

Michael Phelps swam the anchor leg, winning his second gold medal of the night, as the U.S. won an event it usually dominates by a substantial margin.

Team USA had the lead at the halfway mark thanks to Conor Dwyer (1:45.23) and Townley Haas (1:44.14), but Lochte and Phelps took the advantage to another level as the Americans beat runner-up Great Britain by more than two seconds.

Ryan Lochte

With the gold in a time of 7:00.66 seconds, Lochte also passed his hero Matt Biondi to become the second-most-decorated American male swimmer in history behind Phelps with 12 Olympic medals — half of them gold.

It’s the 21st Olympic gold medal for Phelps, who continues to build on his seemingly unbeatable medal count of 25.

Team USA has won the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay on 17 occasions at the Olympic Games, a record for most wins by one country in a single swimming event.

Lochte needs a medal in Thursday’s 200m individual medley to pass American women Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin to become the second-most-decorated swimmer behind Phelps and the fourth-most-decorated athlete regardless of sport.