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Sports · Olympic GamesOldest

Oldest Olympic Swimming Medallist

Record holder

Dara TorresPerson

Record value

41 years, 4 months, 2 days

Country represented: United StatesAchievement location: Beijing, China, United StatesAchievement date: 17 August 2008Current record

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Dara Torres in 2008

Dara Torres in competition in 2008, the year she became the oldest Olympic swimming medallist.vironevaeh / Wikimedia CommonsSourceCC BY-SA 2.0

Official record definition

The greatest verified age at which an athlete of either gender won an Olympic swimming medal. This record value expresses Dara Torres' exact calendar age on her last medal-winning Olympic swim (17 August 2008), not the date she first crossed the oldest-medallist threshold earlier in Beijing.

Measurement methodology

Calendar-age subtraction: 17 August 2008 minus 15 April 1967 = 41 full years, 4 full months and 2 days. Last race identified by competition schedule: 4×100m medley relay final at 10:47 Beijing time, following 50m freestyle final earlier that day. The initial oldest-medallist threshold was crossed earlier in these Games; the record value is measured at the final medal-winning swim per the approved JWR editorial definition.

Measurement point: Age on 17 August 2008, final Olympic swim: Beijing 2008 women's 4×100m medley relay final, freestyle anchor, silver.

Record story

Dara Torres was 41 years, 4 months and 2 days old when she swam her final Olympic race, the women's 4 × 100 metres medley relay final at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 17 August 2008. Born on 15 April 1967, Torres completed the United States team's freestyle anchor leg in 52.27 seconds. The American quartet of Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, Christine Magnuson and Torres finished in 3:53.30, earning the silver medal behind Australia. The final began at 10:47 Beijing local time, after the women's 50 metres freestyle final earlier that morning, in which Torres had also won silver by a margin of just 0.01 second.

Torres had already become the oldest Olympic swimming medallist with the US freestyle relay silver earlier in these Games, on 10 August 2008. Her last and later medal-winning Olympic swim on 17 August gives the exact age shown in this JWR Record Value: 41 years, 4 months, 2 days. That value is calculated by subtracting her documented date of birth from the date of the final race, not from her first medal of the Games. The precise hour of her birth is not documented here, so the achievement is expressed in calendar years, months and days, rather than hours. The video shows the 2008 Olympic medley relay final; her biography and comeback are presented separately in the holder profile.

Media

Supporting video — Dara Torres
USA Swimming interview with five-time Olympian Dara Torres; supporting holder-profile context.

How JWR verified this record

Verification status
Verified
Verification date
27 September 2026
Verification standard
JWR Verification Standard 1.0

Achievement evidence

World Aquatics and Olympedia confirm Dara Torres was born 15 April 1967, swam freestyle anchor in the women's 4x100m medley relay final on 17 August 2008, split 52.27s and won silver (USA 3:53.30). She swam 50m freestyle earlier that morning. Exact calendar age on final swim: 41 years, 4 months, 2 days.

Superiority evidence

Guinness states that Torres surpassed William Robinson's century-old age record and became the oldest Olympic swimming medallist outright.

Jewish Eligibility — Verified by JWR

Jewish eligibility verification

Evidence establishing that the holder qualifies as Jewish for JWR purposes.

  • Jews in the Water Cube — Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Achievement / record verification

Evidence establishing that the holder achieved the result and holds the record as defined.

  • Oldest Olympic swimming medallist — Guinness World Records
  • Dara Torres — Olympic medals/results — World Aquatics
  • Once Upon a Comeback — The True Grit of Dara Torres — Lookalike Productions
  • Dara Torres — Olympic athlete biography — Olympedia
  • Dara Torres — International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame — International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
  • 2008 Beijing Olympic Games — Women 400 Medley Relay — A Final video — Swimming World
  • Women's 4 × 100 m medley relay — Beijing 2008 final — Olympedia

Jewish eligibility, achievement and superiority evidence retain their separate classifications and are never merged. Context and provenance are not presented as proof of the achievement. Restricted evidence and internal research notes are never published. Learn more about the seven-stage process on the verification page.

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Sources & Verification

  • Oldest Olympic swimming medallist

    Official recordGuinness World Records

    What this proves: States that 41-year-old Dara Torres became the oldest Olympic swimming medallist with the Beijing 4×100 m freestyle relay silver.

  • Dara Torres — Olympic medals/results

    Reference databaseWorld Aquatics

    What this proves: Official aquatic-sport database confirms Torres' Beijing 2008 silver medals and age 41.

  • Jews in the Water Cube

    Independent publicationJewish Telegraphic Agency· 11 August 2008

    What this proves: Identifies Torres as Jewish-American, documents her Jewish father/conversion, and reports that the relay silver made her the oldest Olympic swimming medallist.

  • Once Upon a Comeback — The True Grit of Dara Torres

    Independent publicationLookalike Productions

    What this proves: Embedded documentary page explicitly describes Torres' 2008 comeback at age 41 and becoming the oldest swimmer to win an Olympic medal.

  • Dara Torres — Olympic athlete biography

    Primary sourceOlympedia

    What this proves: Lists birth date 15 April 1967, five Olympic Games, and Beijing silver medals including the medley relay; identifies Beijing as her last Olympic Games.

  • Dara Torres — International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

    Primary sourceInternational Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

    What this proves: Confirms Torres had the 4x100m medley anchor leg after her 50m freestyle final, less than 40 minutes later, supporting that it was the final Olympic swim.

  • 2008 Beijing Olympic Games — Women 400 Medley Relay — A Final video

    Primary sourceSwimming World

    What this proves: Hosts an embedded video of the exact Beijing 2008 women's 4x100m medley relay final. Corresponding YouTube ID JdKzDA5kIEc. Video shows the actual event; age introduction not independently confirmed.

  • Women's 4 × 100 m medley relay — Beijing 2008 final

    Primary sourceOlympedia

    What this proves: Official race schedule shows the 17 August 2008 women's medley final at 10:47 local time; lists Dara Torres as US freestyle anchor with 52.27s split and USA silver in 3:53.30.

History

  1. Verified

    Verified according to JWR Verification Standard 1.0.

  2. Publishedv1

    Published to the official JWR registry.

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