By Tito Morales<\/p>\n
DARA Torres is going to yet another Olympic Games! This time, though, the swimming legend will leave the record-chasing to others.<\/p>\n
Torres, 37, will be in Athens covering the Games for NBC\u2019s High Definition broadcast, and she insists that there are no more pool comebacks in her future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad with where I am right now,\u201d she says, during a break in the action at the recent Janet Evans Invitational. \u201cI think the Olympics will be a little tough to watch, but then I start remembering the 5:30 a.m. workouts and the twice-a-days and I remind myself that I never want to go through that again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four Olympic Trials appearances. Four Olympic Games. Nine Olympic medals, including four golds\u2026 When it comes to the Games, there seems to be no end to Torres\u2019 list of accomplishments.<\/p>\n
The Olympics have been such an intimate part of her life, that some find it impossible to separate the athlete from the event. But if there\u2019s ever been a former swimmer who has demonstrated a rich, diverse life away from the pool, it\u2019s Torres.<\/p>\n
A Passion Re-Ignited<\/b><\/p>\n
For seven years, during the early to late 1990\u2019s, Torres played the role of a successful former Olympian quite well. She became, among other things, a model, television commentator, motivational speaker, and one of recent history\u2019s most recognizable infomercial spokespersons.<\/p>\n
Torres recounted her swimming exploits on countless occasions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did it feel like to be an Olympian?\u201d \u201cHow did it taste to have reached your lifelong goals?\u201d \u201cHow did it sound to stand atop the podium and hear the National Anthem?\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, one day, Torres decided she could do more than just continue to relate the dream-like experience. With a little luck and a lot of hard work, she just might be able to relive it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t realize how much I loved the sport until I was out of it for so long,\u201d Torres explains. \u201cAnd once I got back into it and was doing it, I loved it so much that it became a passion again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her return was undertaken almost as a whim, she confesses. \u201cBut once it came into my head I couldn\u2019t get it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Getting To Be That Time Again<\/b><\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult to imagine the range of emotions that must be going through Torres\u2019 mind as this year\u2019s Olympic Trials and Games draw near.<\/p>\n
Four years ago she pulled off the unimaginable. She not only came back to claim a cherished spot on the U.S. team, but she then went on to earn five medals, including three relay golds.<\/p>\n
Surely the immediacy of the coming quadrennial must provide her with a sense of nostalgia — especially since her success in the Games translated to her winning nine total medals, the second most among women in U.S. Olympic history.<\/p>\n
And so, too, there must be a physiological side to things — a pre-programmed quickening of the pulse, an aching in the chest, or a subliminal deepening of the breath.<\/p>\n
But Torres reiterates time and again that Sydney officially closed a chapter of her life. She explains that she rarely, if ever, dreams about competitive swimming. \u201cNow I train very easy,\u201d she says. \u201c I never try to go fast.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Tito Morales DARA Torres is going to yet another Olympic Games! This time, though, the swimming legend will leave the record-chasing to others. Torres, 37, will be in Athens<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n