“You can quote me. There is no more (after 2012). I’m done.” 49 year-old Olympic swimmer Dara Torres said after finding out she made the cut for the 2012 London games.
Between now and then we can expect to be entertained by the body and athlete that defies time and age. The four-time Olympic gold medal winner earned her first Olympic medal more than 20 years ago – at a time when some of her competitors were just born. If she competes in London she will be 45 years old and it will be her 6th Olympic Games.
After a 16 month hiatus, due to knee surgery, Torres qualified to go to the 2012 Olympic time trials at the Missouri Grand Prix, by swimming a time of 25.9 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle preliminaries. Torres had not swam competitively for close to two years and many were not sure she would be able to return even though she announced her intentions to compete last year in September – but she’s back and took her first key step in qualifying for the 2012 Olympics.
