She Finds Way Back to Pool, Olympics : Swimming: Dara Torres, who grew up in Beverly Hills, quit competing in 1989. But after watching tape of 1988 Olympics, she returned to training.

In three years, Dara Torres has gone from being a burned-out and retired swimmer to a co-captain on the U.S. women’s Olympic team.

The 1985 Westlake School graduate, who grew up in Beverly Hills, gave up swimming after the 1989 NCAA Championships.

“I absolutely hated it,” Torres said. “It became kind of tedious. (I’d say to myself,) ‘Oh God, morning workouts, I have afternoon workouts, six hours a day of training. Oh God, why I am doing this?’ When you start questioning yourself, you know you shouldn’t be in this any more.”

But like many athletes who step away from a sport, Torres’ retirement didn’t stick. She returned to training in 1991, found the sport fun again and had an outstanding season. In March, Torres, 25, qualified for her third Olympics.

In Barcelona, Torres will be a member of the 400-meter freestyle relay team. She won a gold medal in that event in 1984 and a bronze in 1988. Torres also won a silver medal for swimming on the 400-meter medley relay team during the preliminaries.

Torres’ comeback started in January, 1991, after watching a tape of the 1988 Games for the first time.

“I just remember how bad I did,” said Torres, who was seventh in the 100-meter freestyle. “I felt I hadn’t been able to do what I was capable of doing.”

Many people around Gainesville, Fla., where Torres makes her home, asked if she would be making a comeback. Her answer each time was an emphatic no.

“But the more people that asked me, the more I wanted to,” Torres said.

Eventually, Torres changed her mind and returned to swimming--with a different approach.

“When I decided to come back, I decided to do it for me and not anybody else,” Torres said. “Before, I was on scholarship and doing it for the school, or when I was in high school, I was doing it for the high school.”

When Torres returned, she was able to match her past success. She was the high scorer in the Phillips 66 National Swimming Championships in August, winning the 200-meter freestyle, and was second in the 50- and 100-meter freestyles and 100-meter butterfly. A subsequent third-place finish in the U.S. Open 100-meter freestyle earned Torres a No. 3 ranking in the world in the event.

In March, Torres was fourth in the 100-meter freestyle in the Olympic trials, missing qualifying as an individual by .33 seconds. (Unlike track and field, where the top three in each trial event qualify for the Olympics, only the top two swimmers advance to the Olympics.) Torres also finished fifth in the 100-meter butterfly and eighth in the 50-meter freestyle at the trials.

Although disappointed at not getting an individual berth, Torres was eventually satisfied with a spot on the relay team.

“My coach (Mitch Ivy) told me: ‘Listen Dara, this is your third Olympic team. When you look back, you won’t think about if you won a medal, but how you can help the young swimmers out with your experience,’ ” Torres said. “He said that’s what I’d be proud of, and he’s right.”

When she was in high school and college, Torres was one of the nation’s best swimmers. She set a world best in the 50-meter freestyle in August, 1983, a month before beginning her junior year of high school.

Between her junior and senior years in high school (Torres attended Mission Viejo High as a junior to train with the Mission Viejo Nadadores, one of the nation’s top clubs), Torres won her gold medal.

“I don’t think I appreciated it then,” Torres said. “It was great, competing in front of the home crowd. I was kind of in awe of everyone, even though I was competing with them. I’d say, ‘There’s Carl Lewis,’ and ‘There’s Mary Lou Retton.’ ”

Torres returned to Westlake for her senior season and ended her high school career in 1985 by setting national records in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles during the Southern Section championships.

She displayed that same kind of dominance at the University of Florida. As a junior in 1988, she was named NCAA swimmer of the year after winning three individual titles at the NCAA Championships, and was the Southeastern Conference’s athlete of the year. She completed her collegiate swimming eligibility in the spring of 1989 by finishing second in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly at the NCAA Championships.

When the swimming season ended, she turned her sights to volleyball and earned a scholarship in that sport. After beginning the season as a bench-warmer, she gradually earned more playing time. But her volleyball career ended after a sustaining a wrist injury that would require three operations to correct.

Graduating in 1990, Torres worked for NBC Sports. Her assignments including being a runner at Wimbledon and assisting with “NFL Live” and a Marv Albert special. Torres has also served as a reporter on swimming and track telecasts for SportsChannel America and SportsChannel Florida.

Torres plans to retire again after the Olympics and is seeking a return to broadcasting. This time, she will be leaving the sport without any regrets.

“If you don’t have any regrets, you have to be happy,” Torres said. “I’m happy with the way things have gone, really happy. Being named one of the captains is really a great honor. I’m really enjoying it this time around. The main reason I’m swimming so fast now is that I’m having fun.”