Sometimes April Fool's Day jokes work a little too well.
On April 1, 2015, five-time Olympian Dara Torres tweeted that she was coming out of retirement alongside the hashtag #ageisjustanumber. While Dara definitely stayed in the pool longer than most—at 41, she was the oldest swimmer to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team—she had no intention of actually returning to the game.
The Washington Post reported it as fact, and before she knew it, Dara's phone was ringing off the hook. Her agent even told her to keep doing what she's doing because it seemed to be getting her good attention. Eventually, she called the reporter to correct their story.
"Woah, it got so blown out of proportion," Dara tells Oprah: Where Are They Now? "I wasn't expecting that."
Today, Dara is 49 years old. She turns 50 in April, and is beginning to wonder how she'll feel about the big 5-0. "All of a sudden it just hit me," she says. "I looked back and I'm like, well 30 wasnt bad and 40 wasn't bad, but 50 that's half a century, that sounds really old. I don't know how I'm going to take it."
Nonetheless, she's staying fit and is keeping an open mind. "I love working out. I box. I still swim. I do bar method. I do a lot of things to keep me in shape. I try to eat healthy. I have my vices. I like chocolate and some other stuff that's not necessarily good for you," she says. "I try to eat everything in proportion control. I don't know what to expect. 50 to me is just another year, another birthday, but it just sounds kind of old."
Tune in Sunday, July 24, at 10/9c for the Oprah: Where Are They Now? special “Olympic Legends.”
Published 07/14/2016