Dara Torres

Early years

Torres was born in Los Angeles, California, to Edward Torres, a real estate developer and casino owner, and Marylu Kauder, a former model. She grew up in Beverly Hills as the fifth of six children and the older of two girls. At age seven, she joined a YMCA swimming practice after her older brothers, then trained with a Culver City club.

At 14, she won the national open 50-yard freestyle, defeating reigning champion Jill Sterkel. Torres attended Westlake School for Girls, competing in swimming, basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball. For her junior year, she moved to train with the Mission Viejo Nadadores under coach Mark Schubert, then returned to Westlake to graduate in 1985.

College swimming career

Torres swam for the Florida Gators at the University of Florida under coach Randy Reese from 1986 to 1989 on an athletic scholarship. She won nine Southeastern Conference individual championships, including the 50-yard, 100-yard, and 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly, and was part of 12 SEC championship relay teams. In 1988, she captured three NCAA individual national titles (50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly) and was a member of six NCAA championship relay squads.

She was named SEC Athlete of the Year in 1988 and SEC Female Swimmer of the Year in 1987 and 1989, earning 28 All-American honors. Torres also lettered in volleyball during her fifth year. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications in 1990 and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2013, she was named a recipient of the 2014 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.

International swimming career

In 1988 in Seoul, she took a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay final and a silver medal for swimming the freestyle leg of the 4×100-meter medley relay in the preliminary heats; individually, she placed seventh in the 100-meter freestyle. After a seven-year break, Torres returned to competition in 1999 under coach Richard Quick. At age 33, she became the oldest woman to win an Olympic swimming medal and was the oldest U.S. team member, yet won more medals than any other U.S. swimmer at those Games. In 2008, at age 41, she competed in the 50-meter freestyle, 4×100-meter medley relay, and 4×100-meter freestyle relay, earning silver medals in all three events.

Life outside swimming

Torres has been a television reporter and announcer for NBC, ESPN, TNT, OLN, and Fox News Channel, and she hosted the golf program The Clubhouse on the Resort Sports Network. In 1994, she became the first elite swimmer to appear in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue as a model. She entered the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. That same year, she began dating reproductive endocrinologist David Hoffman; their daughter, Tessa Grace Torres-Hoffman, was born in 2006.

Hoffman, a masters swimmer, encouraged her to resume training after the birth. In October 2000, she competed on a special Olympians edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with Regis Philbin, winning $125,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis charity. She has long participated in Swim Across America, a cancer research fundraiser. Torres wrote two books: Age is Just a Number and Gold Medal Fitness.

She serves as Vice-President on the board of the American chapter of the Princess Charlene of Monaco foundation. In August 2019, she joined CaniBrands as Chief Wellness and Lifestyle Officer. On June 18, 2024, she became Head Swimming and Diving Coach at Boston College. In Winter 2025, she was named Head U17 Swim Coach for the Maccabi USA National Team but did not attend the Games.