Torres to be keynote speaker at AWSM convention

Olympian Dara Torres will be the keynote speaker at Saturday night's dinner during the AWSM convention. Read about Dara in AWSM member Michelle Kaufman's story, which ran recently in The Miami Herald.

       That's where the ordinary life ends. Torres, one of the world's fastest swimmers, is training for her fifth Olympics, aiming for a medal -- which would be her 10th and also a first for a swimmer older than 40. Five mornings a week at the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex, she swims 100 laps alongside Olympians half her age -- and beats them on a regular basis.

       Last month at the U.S. nationals, she bettered her own American record in the 50-meter sprint a quarter-century after breaking her first world record as a giggly teenager. She also won the 100-meter title against six swimmers who weren't even born when she won her first Olympic gold in 1984.

       The goggles she wore in that race are older than all the women she beat. Torres saved them from her first Olympics, and still wears them for big races.

       "What Dara is doing is totally unheard of, exploring new boundaries female athletes have never crossed, " said six-time Olympic swim coach Michael Lohberg, who trains Torres in Coral Springs. "She is . . . opening doors for middle-aged women in all sports. Her unique story goes beyond swimming."

       Arlene Semeco, 23, an Olympian from Venezuela, trains with Torres and calls her "crazy gifted, amazing, a role model for all of us."

       Watching Torres' lean, six-foot body carve the water like a dolphin, rippled muscles bulging from her back and shoulders, one would never guess that 17 months ago she was delivering her first child after a six-year hiatus from competitive swimming. She swam and lifted weights hours before having the baby, and there were other clues in the delivery room that Torres would race again.

       "I had my baby, Tessa, on my chest, and the first thing I asked my doctor was, 'When can I start working out again?' " Torres said.

       Two days later, against doctors' orders, she was back in the gym, doing arm curls. Within three weeks, she had shed the 36 pounds she gained during pregnancy. She was the kind of new mom other moms hate -- the kind with a flat belly.

       "I remember I was buying newborn diapers in the grocery store, and this woman says to me, 'You have a newborn?' and when I told her I did, she said, 'You must have adopted, ' " Torres said.

       In August 2006, while still breastfeeding, Torres competed in a master's race against 35-and-older swimmers and went so fast she started thinking about the 2008 Olympics. Her boyfriend and the baby's father, David Hoffman, a fertility doctor, encouraged her to go for it.

       She already had come out of retirement once, for the 2000 Olympics, and she won five medals at age 33. After that, she vowed to quit and spent the next six years modeling, hosting fitness and adventure shows, doing Tae-Bo infomercials, and working as a TV sports reporter.

       During pregnancy, the itch came back.

       "I started swimming again during pregnancy, purely for exercise, but I can't just piddle around in a pool, " Torres said. "I need to race.

       "I feel I'm a better swimmer now than I was as a teenager. Back then, I was just thrashing around, going as fast as I could. Now, I understand my body so much better, and my strokes are much more technically sound."

       Torres is an admitted fitness freak who maintains her sculpted body with a staff of seven that includes two swim coaches (Lohberg and sprint specialist Chris Jackson), a personal trainer (Florida Panthers trainer Andy O'Brien), a physical therapist, a masseuse -- and two personal stretchers.

       Her 40-year-old muscles don't recover as quickly as they once did, so to loosen them, she gets "mashed." She lies face down on a yoga mat and one trainer stands barefoot on her behind while another steps on her muscles "to get rid of the toxins and lactic acid." They also twist, squeeze, stretch and bend her limbs. She calls it "a huge key" to her success.

       Stretchers Anne Tierney and Steve Sierra, who travel with her, stretch her before and after races while younger swimmers stare, wondering: What is that woman doing?

       It is a question many people might ask if they saw what Torres puts her body through. In addition to the pool work, she does grueling Stairmaster workouts, exercises with Swiss balls and resistance cords, and anything else O'Brien suggests.

       "She does very complicated movements during her dry-land training, balancing things, she almost looks like a circus acrobat, " Lohberg said. "She is a strange and rare mixture of talent, attitude and mental toughness, and she has the lifestyle, the finances, to hire a team of people to help her. It's the perfect package."

       Torres had a privileged childhood along with five siblings in a Beverly Hills mansion. Her father Ed was a real estate mogul who made it big in Las Vegas. He was part-owner of the Riviera casino, partnered with Wayne Newton to buy the Aladdin and owned El Rancho.

       He and Torres' mother, MaryLu, a former model, divorced when Dara was 8, but he remained an influence in Dara's life. He died last year of cancer, and Dara said his memory propels her. She didn't tell him about her comeback because he was very sick and seemed so happy to see her as a mom that she thought she might disappoint him with news she was competing again.

       "He was all about family, about the grandchildren, there are 20 of them, and I wasn't sure how he'd react to my comeback, " Torres said. "I kind of wished I had told him, but I feel like he's with me in the water, like he somehow knows."

      Torres remains very close with her mother, stepfather, sister and four brothers. Half the family lives in Sun Valley, Idaho; the other half is near Palm Beach. "Dara was always the most competitive of the six kids, " said her mother, now MaryLu Kauder. "She wanted to be first in the car, first at the dinner table, first at everything."

       Torres' trainer works with the Florida Panthers and is also the personal trainer for Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, the No. 1 pick of the 2005 NHL draft. He says Torres is the perfect client.

       "First of all, she has exceptional genetics, " O'Brien said. "She's very lean, maintains muscle well, and recovers quickly for her age. She also listens to her body and has an amazing ability to duplicate exercises I show her almost instantly. She is ultra-competitive. She exhausts every possible resource and will rest at nothing when it comes to her fitness."

       Her day begins with a nutrient-filled berry-flavored powdered shake. She eats organics whenever possible. Torres battled with eating disorders during her days as an All-American at the University of Florida, so she is hyper-aware of nutrition and doesn't deprive herself of regular food.

       After a recent workout, she ate lunch at a deli and ordered matzoh ball soup, two hotdogs (minus the buns) and a side of French fries, most of which she left on the plate.

       Despite her reputation as a fitness monster and health-food fanatic, she knows there are those who look at her suspiciously, whisper behind her back and post drug rumors on the Internet.

       "Unfortunately, if you do something out of the ordinary, people accuse you of using drugs, " Torres said. "People assume it's impossible to do what I'm doing without cheating, and that's sad. But I don't want any questions, so I am taking a proactive approach."

       Torres asked U.S. Swimming to drug-test her "randomly and frequently, " and she has offered to supply blood samples for more advanced tests. She says she has been tested six times since June.

       O'Brien said Torres has "the highest integrity" and that all of her success comes from hard work and healthy living. "There is just no way in the world she would cheat. I know it seems impossible what she's doing, but she's a unique individual."

       Lohberg concurred. "You watch her and say, 'How is this possible?' But if you knew Dara, you'd know. She's an absolute perfectionist."