5-Time Olympic Swimmer Dara Torres Makes a Splash at the Bed-Stuy YMCA

Five-time Olympic swimmer Dara Torres visited the Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA this afternoon to give the -- the center's swim team -- a few lessons in what it takes to achieve Olympic gold.

However, the giddy young swimmers were not so unfamiliar with gold medals: In the past three years alone, the Piranhas have gone from being a virtually unknown little swim team out of Bed-Stuy to winning back-to-back citywide competitions, racking up a slew of gold medals of their own.

Their rise from relative obscurity to citywide champions is one of the reasons the Bed-Stuy team was chosen by Torres, said Jordy Dordain, Bed-Stuy YMCA’s executive director.

Torres, a Brand Ambassador for BENGAY, spent an hour with the team, answering their questions about her workout regimen and how she stays motivated. She then led their swim practice, helping them perfect their starts, strokes and other swim techniques.

“Kids in this community are very lucky to have a YMCA like this; it’s a beautiful facility, and they have a nice little pool down there,” said Torres.

And the Piranhas were equally impressed with Torres.

“It’s amazing, it’s pretty cool to see her here,” said Lalah Thompson, 16, who has been swimming for eight years. “She’s a female, and that’s a pretty inspiring. Everybody talks about [Michael] Phelps, and you don’t really hear about Dara Torres. So to me, this is pretty big.”

“I’m so excited! I’ve been excited since I woke up this morning,” said Piranha swimmer Caitlin Hackett, 15.

Torres is the first American swimmer to compete in five Olympics. She set a world record in the 50-meter freestyle in 1983, two years before the current world-record holder in the event, Libby Trickett of Australia, was born. She then went on to win the first of her nine Olympic medals in 1984 as a member of the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, when she was 17, a year before Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was born.

And she didn’t stop. Twenty-five years later, at age 41, after a few retirements from swimming, Torres decided to dive back in, once again breezing through Olympic trials, making her the oldest swimmer to qualify for the 2008 Games.

She also became the first woman to win the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach car race. When asked why she entered the event, she told The New York Times, “I’m so freaking competitive it’s unbelievable.”

In fact, her competitive streak may be the only rival to her stellar swimming record. Even today, after becoming a mother, a 16-month layoff for knee surgery and an earlier bout with a shoulder injury, she plans to compete again, in the 2012 Olympics. This will be her sixth Olympic go-around. And now, at 44 years old, her body is in better shape than most 21-year-olds.

“She makes me want to work out more. She makes me look like I’m out of shape, and I’m a kid," said Caitlin.

What the young swimmers seemed to gain -- even more valuable than sharpening their techniques -- was a desire to push themselves harder. Torres's own experience with competing was proof that it's not always about outdoing others; it's about trying to reach and then exceed your own personal best. 

“I realized not too long ago that competitiveness never goes away,” said Torres. “It’s always in you, it’s just a matter of where you channel it.”