Olympic Phenom Dara Torres Visits Foxcroft

Torres competed in five Summer Olympics as a member of the U.S. 游泳队，获得四枚金牌，四枚银牌，四枚铜牌. Her Olympic career spans more than two decades, from the 1984 Los Angeles Games, where she won a gold at the age of 17, through the Beijing Olympics in 2008, when she collected three silver medals at 41. 在这项大多数运动员20岁出头就已经退役的运动中，40多岁还能在最高水平上竞争，这证明了达拉对成功的渴望.

“I’ve always been very competitive. 我想我从子宫里出来就是这样，”托雷斯在演讲结束后说道. “I believe you are either born competitive or you’re not. 我和四个哥哥一起长大，我们在所有事情上都竞争, even getting a seat at the dinner table.”

Torres, who was using a crutch for support because of a knee injury, 在回答问题之前，他在柯里尔图书馆向全神贯注的学生和教职员工发表了近40分钟的轻松而随意的演讲. The California native, who now lives in Dover, MA, 他还在周一晚上的一次非正式聚会和周二与运动员共进午餐时拜访了学生. 学校的体育教练邀请托雷斯在威尼斯彩票游戏演讲, Ruth Ann Allen, who has served on the medical staff of the U.S. Swimming Team at numerous events.

At the morning session, 托雷斯解释说，当她怀孕时，她想从健身房回到游泳池锻炼的愿望点燃了她的竞争精神，当她的大多数同龄人都在社区游泳池闲逛或参加孩子的体育赛事时，她就加入了奥运代表队. On Aug. 17, 2008, in Beijing, 达拉在50米自由泳比赛中获得银牌，成为奥运会历史上年龄最大的游泳奖牌获得者. It was one of three she won at the Games.

而托雷斯则因她的成就而受到新闻媒体的赞扬, missing gold by the smallest of margins annoyed her. “我记得我眯着眼睛看记分牌，想看看我跑到哪里了. 我的眼睛和我年轻20岁时不一样了，”托雷斯说. “我看到我创造了职业生涯最好的成绩(24秒的美国纪录).在比赛中只以百分之一秒的差距输给了德国选手布雷塔·斯99499威尼斯信誉芬。. 我知道我应该为我的成绩感到高兴，但我对获得第二名感到沮丧. I had set my goal at winning the gold medal and I had failed. Competitors are like that; anything less than finishing first is a failure.”

达拉一边微笑着感谢众人的赞赏，一边在水下发泄她的沮丧, 她在赛后接受采访时开玩笑说，也许她不应该在前一天晚上整理指甲. Eventually, though, 她意识到她所取得的成就是非凡的, 尤其是这一切发生在她生下女儿两年后, Tessa.

“我花了一段时间才忘记我没有赢得那场比赛的事实, 但我最终意识到，我已经付出了我的全部，这就是你所能要求自己的全部,” said Torres, adding, “I want to share something from Marian Wright Edelman, the founder of the Children’s Defense Fund. She said, ‘You're not obligated to win. 你有义务每天都尽力做到最好.’ I did that. 她还说，“我真的很感激能拥有自己热爱的东西.’ ”

托雷斯比较了她的奥运经历和她不断变化的观点. 她说:“1984年，17岁的我第一次参加奥运会，我就非常兴奋. “At Beijing, I appreciated being there in a very different way.

“And I was still as nervous as anyone else, but I realized that mentally, I was much stronger than the kids I was racing. 我有女儿在家，这对我来说是最重要的. The kids thought the race was the most important thing. 我知道我做了所有的工作才到达那里，所以现在我只需要出去享受这一刻. That was a big advantage.”

Torres shared insights beyond the swimming pool, too. “我相信你可以把你从运动中学到的东西应用到你生活的其他方面,” she said, 她指出，她鼓励女儿参加体育运动的部分原因就是这个原因.

参加各种各样的运动，在生活中有其他的兴趣, though, is also key because of the potential for boredom and burnout, said Torres, 她在高中时打篮球和排球，甚至在游泳资格用完后还在佛罗里达大学攻读排球专业. “我不是很好，但教练认为我强烈的职业道德会对球队有好处,” she recounted. “By the end of the season I was playing a lot.”

At Florida, 托雷斯赢得了9次东南联盟(SEC)个人冠军和12次接力队冠军. 她的12枚奥运奖牌追平了由美国选手珍妮·汤普森和娜塔莉·考夫林保持的女子游泳历史记录.

托雷斯差一点就错过了2012年奥运会的预选赛，但他仍然每周游泳几次, mostly with a Masters program. She also works with several organizations, including the 摩纳哥基金会“学游泳”项目的夏琳公主.