Aaron Peirsol and Dara Torres To Be Honored at ISHOF Aquatics Show

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

U.S. Olympic greats Aaron Peirsol and Dara Torres will be among those inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) this weekend in California, and the festivities will include an “Alice in Waterland” themed performance.

The performers at the event will include the Aquamaids, members of Cirque de Soleil and Dana Kunze’s comedy diving team. The event will take place Saturday, Oct. 29 at 11:45 a.m. at the Santa Clara International Swim Center. The ISHOF is planning on relocating cross country to Santa Clara and hopes to host more shows of this sort in the future.

Peirsol is being inducted into the Hall of Fame to honor a career that made him one of the greatest backstrokers of all time. He won five Olympic gold medals and two silvers, along with nine World titles. He held the world record in the men’s 100 back until the recent Olympic Games and remains the world record-holder in the 200 back at 1:51.92.

Torres, meanwhile, swam in five different Olympic Games and came back to the sport on three separate occasions. She won 12 Olympic medals in her career, tied with Jenny Thompson for the most by any female swimmer. Her finest moments came later in her career, such as her five-medal, two-gold performance at the Sydney Olympic Games (aged 33) or her three silver medals at the age of 41 in Beijing.

Other inductees include U.S. coach Bob Bowman (who will not be on hand and will accept his induction next year), Chinese diver Guo Jingjing and the late Camille Muffat. Muffat was the Olympic gold medalist in the 400 free in 2012, but after retiring from the sport in 2014, she was killed in a helicopter crash in Argentina while filming a reality TV show.

Read more about the induction here.

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Damineh Akhavan

7 years ago

Peirsol used to be my computer background for many years. Not only did I admire him for his swimming abilities, he was fantastic out of the pool. I’m glad he’s being recognised.

Trudy Marais

7 years ago