College Career
Torres accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she swam for the Florida Gators swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition under coach Randy Reese from 1986 to 1989. In her four years as a Gator swimmer, Torres won nine Southeastern Conference (SEC) individual championships, including the 50-meter freestyle (1987, 1988, 1989), 100-meter freestyle (1987, 1988, 1989), 200-meter freestyle (1987), and 100-meter butterfly (1988, 1989); she was also a member of twelve of the Gators' SEC championship relay teams. Torres won three NCAA individual national championships (50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly) in 1988; and was a member of six of the Gators' NCAA championship relay teams, including the 400-meter freestyle relay in 1986; the 200-meter medley relay, 400-meter medley relay and 400-meter freestyle relay in 1988; and the 200-meter medley relay and 400-meter medley relay in 1989. She was named the SEC Athlete of the Year in 1988, SEC Female Swimmer of the Year in 1987 and 1989, and earned twenty-eight All-American swimming honors—the maximum number possible during a college career.
Torres graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications in 1990, and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1999.
Read more about this topic: Dara Torres
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