Torres, Dara

Outside the Pool

Torres has complemented her athletic career with professional activities outside the pool. In 2009, she published a self-help book based on her success in challenging the age barrier, Age Is Just a Number: Achieve Your Dreams at Any Stage in Your Life. As a fashion model, she has walked the runway and appeared in magazines. In 1994, she became the first athlete to be included in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, challenging the conventional physical beauty standards promoted by the influential publication. She has also worked as a television commentator for national networks including ABC, Fox, ESPN, TNT, and the Discovery Channel.

Torres has emerged as a role model not only for her athletic prowess and longevity but also for her ability to persevere in the face of adversity and conventional barriers. Over the course of her career, Torres overcame an eating disorder, the loss of her father to cancer, the demands of single motherhood, and two divorces to reemerge as a world-class swimmer.

She has demonstrated that middle age may present new challenges for athletes, but it does not prevent them from competing successfully against the inexperience of youth. Torres's professional and personal life experiences reflect the multiple roles women are expected to play in contemporary Western society as well as the importance of questioning gender, age, and beauty norms.