The most amazing aspect of Torres' story might be that it happened almost by accident.
Torres thought she was finished with competitive swimming after the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, when she won five medals after a six-year layoff. She had been swimming for so long that just the smell of chlorine made her feel that she needed to get away from the pool.
But two years ago, when she was pregnant with her daughter, Tessa, swimming turned out to be the only way she felt comfortable staying in shape. A friend suggested that she join the Masters swim program at Coral Springs Swim Club in Florida, not far from her home in Parkland, Fla.
Torres showed up unannounced at the facility, not sure what to expect.
"I went into the office to talk to the secretary, and I said to her, `I'd like to see what programs you have for swimming,' " Torres says. "I didn't tell her who I was. She said, `What level do you think you can swim?' I said, `Well, I don't know, either with the kids or the masters.' And she looks at me like I was nuts when I said the kids. She says: `Tell you what, why don't you write down if you've swum in the past. Have you swum in the past?' "
It's hard for Torres to keep from smirking when she tells this story.
"Yes," Torres told the woman. "I've swam a little in the past."
Well, why don't you write down what you've done, the secretary said. I'll give it to the coach and he can decide whether you can be a part of the program.
"So I wrote down: four-time Olympian, nine Olympic medals, world championships, Pan Am games, all that," Torres says. "I folded it because I didn't want to embarrass her. I walked out, and I kind of smiled. Sure enough, a couple hours later, Michael [Lohberg] calls me, and he was laughing."
Lohberg, who coached Olympic swimmers in West Germany in the 1980s and now heads the program at Coral Springs, didn't know what to expect from Torres. At least at first. He figured she just wanted to stay fit during her pregnancy, and that was fine with him. Torres even swam and lifted weights the day she gave birth to Tessa.
"I knew when I was going to deliver, that I was going to go into the hospital that night," Torres says. "I was just sitting around waiting, and I was like, `I'm kind of bored. I just want to go get a workout in before I do this.' I knew it was going to be a little while before I could start working out again."
