What Do You Know for Sure?

Dara Torres, on Competition

Dara Torres, 41, is the oldest swimming medalist in Olympic history.

In the water, you simply don't know your age. And when you're around 18-year-old swimmers and you're trying to nap and they're playing loud music, that's when it hits you that you're old enough to be their parent.

Once a competitor, always a competitor. Everyone assumes that as you age your feelings of competitiveness dissipate, but they don't. People my age and older have been telling me they are going to do something they have never done before. I love that.

My goal was to win a gold medal in Beijing, but that didn't happen. The London Olympics are four years away, and I don't know now if that's my goal. But I do know I want to be at the World Championships next summer in Rome. You can count me in for that. 

— As told to Sue Carswell