ONCEKids salutes Modern Mom Dara Torres

Dara Torres is an American former college and international swimmer. The twelve-time Olympic medalist is the first and only swimmer from the United States to compete in five Olympic Games. 

At just 15 years old she set the first American record and 26 years later she broke her own record in the 50-meter freestyle. At age 41, she is the oldest swimmer ever to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic team. 

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She competed in the 1984 games, 1988 games, 1992 games, 2000 games, and 2008 games. She competed in the 50-meter freestyle, the 4x100-meter medley relay, and the 4x100-meter freestyle relay at the 2008 Summer Olympics, winning silver medals in all three events. 

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She gave birth to her daughter, Tessa Grace Torres-Hoffman, in 2006 and won gold in the 100-meter freestyle at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis just 15 months later. At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, she finished just .32 of a second behind Jessica Hardy, and .09 of a second behind Kara Lynn Joyce, making her  place fourth in the finals of the 50-meter freestyle. Only the top two finishers qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, so she did not make the team. Despite this, her Olympic career still spans an impressive 24 years.