It’s the (Hall of) Fame game forDara Torres…
The 52-year-old Cuban American former competitive swimmer has been named to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame‘s class of 2019.
Torres is a 12-time medalist and former world record-holder in three events. She is the first swimmer to represent the United States in five Olympic Games (1984, 1988, 1992, 2000 and 2008), and at age 41, was the oldest swimmer to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic team.
At the 2008 Beijing Games, she competed in the 50-meter freestyle, 4×100-meter medley relay, and 4×100-meter freestyle relay, and won silver medals in all three events.
Torres has won 12 Olympicmedals (four gold, four silver, four bronze), one of three women with the most Olympic women’s swimming medals. She also won at least one medal in each of the five Summer Games in which she has competed, making her one of only a handful of Olympians to earn medals in five different Games.
The rest of the class: Champion gymnast Nastia Liukin, once-shunned track stars Tommie Smithand John Carlos, Candace Cable, Erin Popovich, Chris Waddell(Paralympics), Lisa Leslie(basketball), Misty May-Treanor(beach volleyball), Apolo Anton Ohno(short track speedskating), the 1998 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team, Ron O’Brien(diving coach) and Tim Nugent(special contributor).
The USOPC will hold an induction ceremony on November 1 in Colorado Springs, Colorado — the first since 2012.
After the Hall of Fame essentially stalled out, the USOPC’s Sarah Hirshlandpushed to revive it as part of a federation effort to focus more on athletes.
“We thank them for their impact on sport and society, and for continuing to inspire the next generation of athletes and fans,” Hirshland said.
