OLYMPIC CHAMPION SWIMMER DARA TORRES MEDAL

The Jewish-American Hall of Fame has inducted its first female sports star in 2020 - Olympic swimming champion Dara Torres. Torres competed in five Olympic Games, winning 12 medals. In her first Olympics, in 1984, she won a gold medal for the 100–meter relay. She went on to compete in the 1988, 1992, 2000, and 2008 Olympics, winning five medals in 2000, more than anyone else on her team. In 2008, the oldest–ever Olympic swimmer at age 41 (having given birth only a year earlier), won two silver medals for 100-meter medley relay and 50–meter freestyle, breaking the American freestyle record she had set at age fifteen.

Over the course of her career, Dara won four gold, four silver, and four bronze medals at the Olympics and broke the American record speeds for 50–meter freestyle ten times, more than any American swimmer in any event. Among multiple Olympic medalists, Dara is in 15th place worldwide (including both men and women), in 4th place among Americans, in 2nd place among American women, and in 1st place among all Jewish Americans.

Dara Torres entered her first international swimming competition at age 14. Over 20 years later, at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, Dara became the oldest swimmer to compete in the Olympic Games. When she took three silver medals home - including the 50-meter freestyle race where she missed the gold by a heartbreaking 1/100th of a second.

Dara was the first female athlete ever to be featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and in 2009, won the ESPY award for “Best Comeback.” To add to her accolades, Dara was also named one of the “Top Female Athletes of the Decade” by Sports Illustrated Magazine and, in 2019, she was inducted into the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame.

A top-selling author, Dara Torres' memoir, “Age is Just a Number: Achieve Your Dreams at Any Stage in Your Life,” was published in April, 2009 and was listed as one of the top 25 best-selling business books later that year. Her second book, “Gold Medal Fitness: A Revolutionary 5-Week Program” hit stands in May, 2010 and became a New York Times Best-Seller.

The non-profit Jewish-American Hall of Fame has issued a limited number of large 2- inch, 3 oz. high relief art medals honoring Olympic multi-medal winner, swimmer Dara Torres, which will be given to contributors: 105 bronze ($50), 60 pure silver ($200), and 35 gold-plated pure silver ($250). Dara's likeness was created by the renowned American sculptor Eugene Daub - using an interesting sculpting technique reminiscent of ancient Egyptian sunken reliefs - whereas a portion of the portrait is below the surface and part of it is raised. Orders can be sent to JAHF, c/o Mel Wacks, 5189 Jeffdale Ave., Woodland Hills, CA 91364 or call 818-225-1348; E-Sylum readers can take 20% discount.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW BOOK: JEWISH-AMERICAN HALL OF FAME MEDALS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n10a06.html)

For more information on the Jewish-American Hall of Fame, see:
http://www.amuseum.org/jahf/

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