Dara Torres On Her Olympic Silver Lining

“Is there a silver lining to the silver medal?” Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson asked Dara Torres, following the two silver medals she won at her finals on Sunday.

“That’s a good analogy,” Dara replied. “The silver lining is that there’s nothing that I could have changed. My coach said I swam the perfect race and I broke the American record. I did my best time by a couple tenths of a second, which is a lot in a 50, so I have to be happy with a silver medal.”

Mother… Olympian… Role model – Dara is all of these things, and more.

So shouldn’t she be ecstatic with three silver medals in these Games, her fifth overall?

“Sum up the medal count for me,” Shaun asked.”How many and what are their colors?”

“I have 4 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze,” Dara said.

“So, it’s all even.”

“It’s all even, yeah. I was hoping it would be uneven, but it’s all even.”

“When you go home and you step in the door, what is the first thing you’re going to do?” Shaun asked.

“I’m gonna put my bags down, and I’m going to go to my daughters room,” Dara said. “It’s going to be too late, she’s gonna be asleep. But I’m gonna go to the door and peek in and just look at her. That’s the first thing I’m gonna do.”

“You’re not gonna wake her up and say, ‘Hey mommy’s home?’” Shaun asked.

“I can’t,” Dara said. “’Cause then I’ll be stuck with her awake all night.”

Two-year-old daughter Tessa Grace has a few favorite things — swimming with mom, and watching mom swim.

“The minute she knows that I’m gonna be on TV, she, well, the nanny, tells me that she’s glued to the TV, so that makes me feel good,” Dara said.

“So what do you think you represent to a woman over 40?” Shaun asked as they wrapped up their interview.

“I think the biggest thing is, which I’ve said it in the past, is you just don’t put an age-limit on your dreams, and just follow your heart. And that’s what I’ve done, and I think I’ve proved that — uh, age is just a number.”