Robin's Nest from American Humane - Dara Torres, Olympian, Author, and Motivational Speaker

Episode Date: March 4, 2024

In this episode of Robin’s Nest, Robin hosts Dara Torres, the most medaled US female Olympic athlete. Dara Torres has overachieved her entire life. Breaking world records as a teen and making her last Olympic games as a 41-year-old mother. The duration, dedication and breath of Dara’s career is unsurpassed in Olympic history. Post Olympics, Dara transitioned quickly into a world-class motivational speaker who spends her time on stage helping the audience dive deep into their souls and assist attendees in creating a pathway to their professional and personal success. Robin talks to Dara about her journey to success as well as her love of animals.

Welcome to Robin's Nest. So many of us have a deep connection with the animals around us and want to protect them from the pets in our homes to endangered species in the wild. That's why I joined American Humane. As one of the oldest and most effective animal protection groups, we help billions of animals around the world. Join us as we explore how we can build a more humane world together. Hello and welcome to Robin's Nest. I'm Dr. Robin Ganzert and this is the official podcast of American Humane and Global Humane, the nation's first and most experienced humane organization focused on the humane treatment of animals all over the world from certifying zoos to being the first boots on the ground in crises and rescues helping to ensure that animals are safe in the filming of

movies on sets globally and that more than 1 billion animals and farms are treated humanely and our military veteran and military dog programs. There's so much to talk about with American Humane's power to touch lives and keep animals safe. But today we are talking to the most meddled U.S. female Olympic athlete, Dara Torres. We want to hear what you think after you've listened. Please make sure to review the podcast on your podcast platform. As we've mentioned, we're so excited about having this incredible woman with us today, the most credentialed U.S. Olympian. I am so proud to introduce Dara Torres to us. And she

is not only the most amazing athlete, she's a mom, a motivational speaker. She actually helps to empower women. She loves her animals in her life. And you know what I think is so great is that she serves as such an example for all of us to be our very best selves. And as we think about our role in the larger world, it's always great to have that extra motivation and example that she provides. Welcome. I'm so glad you're with us today. Thank you. I appreciate you having me on. I'm excited to talk to you.

Oh, my goodness. You know, you are such an example of excellence, the pursuit of excellence, the pursuit of unbelievable achievements. Tell me what motivates you every day to get up and do the incredible things you've done. I think for me, it was really about setting goals. You know, when you have those goals and you get up in the morning and you don't want to jump into that cold water, you don't want to get out of your comfy bed. You think about those goals and realize I can't get those goals unless I go out and do what I need to do. And so I've always been a goal setter. I think it just naturally came from being in swimming at a young age, but it definitely plays in my life post-swimming career. I think goals are really, really important. And my mother always

told me a dream is nothing but a goal with a date on it. And, you know, it really is important to keep those goals and that discipline. And that's how you've lived your whole life. Yeah, I have. I can't say that when I was younger, I was super disciplined because I was one of those athletes where my sport just came very easily to me. And as I got a little bit older and I started to become more from a girl to a woman and my body changed, I realized that I actually have to work hard and try to do more than what everyone else is doing to be the best that I can be. So it took a little while for me to learn that, but it's pretty much a staple in my life with everything I do. Describe a day, because I know that you are still so the example of fitness and athleticism. Tell me, what is your life? And again, this is a team goal for me and my, my friends as well. So please tell me what is it? I have, I have four dogs, so I'll take them out all in the morning

for like a walk just to get outside and get some fresh air. Um, but I really, unless I have, unless my work is in the morning, uh, I always try always try to get my workout in first thing in the morning. There's just something about doing it, just starting your day off then after you've done it, knowing that you don't have to work out again. And that's kind of something that I've always done is just work out in the morning. But I have a 17-year-old daughter, so she's here less than one more year and then she's off to college. So I try to get her breakfast in the morning. Like I said, walk the dogs and do my workout. And then it depends what I have going on. A lot of my work is on the road. So when I go and give motivational talks,

I'm not usually at home unless there's a local one. So I'm flying a lot to different places to do my motivational talks. I also work on an all-woman sports talk show. And I just make sure I do my homework and that I'm prepared for everything that I do. That's incredible. That's incredible. It's great being a mom, isn't it? So Tessa, I believe, is your beautiful daughter. What, a year away from college? That's big. So you're looking at a life change really uh before you turn around you know i i it's funny because i don't think like a head like i'm i live in the moment and i do what i need to do during that day i mean i do like i do i set my goals but i i have friends who have kids that

are tested to age that are already freaking out that they're going to be gone next year and you know tessie even said to me like how come you're not like upset? I'm like, because it hasn't happened yet. Why not just enjoy what's going on right now instead of getting so upset that your kid's going to be leaving in, in, you know, 10, 11 months. So that's sort of what, like how I'm kind of wired is I don't think about things to get upset for so long. I get upset when it happens, you know, things to get upset for so long. I get upset when it happens, you know, it's almost like a year to worry about that. Well, it's funny because I was like that when I was swimming, when I was younger, I used to worry about everyone that was in my race. And I'm like, gosh, there's the national age group record holder. And there's this person, that person, and wasting so much energy worrying

about everyone else that I wasn't really enjoying my race and going out there and just swimming my race. And I, as I got older and I was swimming and as I was older, I realized that I don't need to put that much pressure on myself and, and worry. Cause you never know, like what athletes going to show up that day in the pool. They could have, you know, had a cold for three days. They, you know, could have stress and other aspects of their life. So why worry, you know, just be in your own sort of zone in your own body and just appreciate what's going on and not worry about what everyone else is going through. I read the other day that peace is really being able to be in that stillness of that moment. And that is true peace. And it really does provide you with an opportunity to excel and so much and be your best.

And certainly, I think we see that especially in the world's best class athletes such as yourself, which is wonderful. I have to ask this. You said four pet puppies. You have to tell us about your dogs and what they mean to you because everyone in Robin's Nest loves to talk about our animals. Yeah. I think not only myself, my whole family never thought I would ever have a dog. I grew up with four older brothers and a younger sister. My brothers were always bringing home stray dogs. I mean, at one point we had seven dogs in the house and I really kind of actually had a disdain for dogs because it's like they'd run up, they'd be barking all the time, the wet

noses were on you. And I just, I think it was because there were so many dogs around and they weren't my personal dogs. They were my brothers or my mom's or whatever. I didn't really have a connection with dogs. And so in 2010, it was just, you know, I'm a single mom. It's just my daughter and I, and my daughter kept saying, I want a brother. I want a sister. And I'm like thinking I'm like 43 or whatever. There's no way I'm going to do that. Like, so I said, I said, you can choose Tessa, brother, sister, a dog or a cat. And she's like a dog. I'm like, great.

So I got my first dog when she was 10. And I mean, in 2010, she was three, no four. She was four. Tessa was four. And she was just, I mean, in 2010, she was three, no, four. She was four. Tessa was four. And she was just the sweetest dog. She was a Tibetan terrier and just very calm and ended up becoming Tessa's dog. So at that point, I still didn't have my dog because Tessa became very attached to it. And that was her dog, although I had to do everything, take her out, feed her, do everything.

But that was Tessa's dog. her dog, although I had to do everything, take her out, feed her, do everything. But that was Tessa's dog. So then I'd moved to Massachusetts and my niece had wanted to get my mother a dog because my mother had so many dogs so many years that she was kind of taking a break from dogs and just wanted to enjoy life for a few years. And so I would happen to be with my mom in Massachusetts. I was living there for six years and my niece called and she was like, oh, you know, they call her Mim for, uh, that's the grandmother's name, Mim. And she's like, I have a great dog for you. And there's this like little poofy little white dog. And I was like, Oh my God, that's the cutest dog.

And, and it was an American Eskimo. And my mom's like, I can't do a dog right now. I need to wait like a year or two. And I'm like, I'll, I'll take her, you know? And so next thing you know, I'm flying back down to Florida, grabbing an American Eskimo. And I named her Polar because she looked like a polar bear. So I had Scarlet and Polar and I was fine. And then, I don't know, I was bored one day and I started looking up breeders and dogs and, you know, what are some new ones that are coming out?

And I saw that there was a Pomsky. I was like, Ooh, that's so cute. Like a, a, at first I was like, wait, a Pomeranian and a Husky. How does that happen? I'm like, Oh, okay. They breed them. You know, like it just, it didn't make sense at first. I'm like, Pomeranian and a Husky. Yeah. Pomeranian and a Husky for a Pomsky. And I'm like that my, my mind was just like, that's kind of weird, you know? But, um, I, I spoke to the breeder and she was sending me pictures of the litter and I was like, yeah, I just, I really want one. And so she put a little trekker on a plane and, um, came up to Massachusetts and he ended up being my third dog. Um, and so that was awesome. And, and now I had Scarlett, Polar and Trekker. Trekker likes to walk. That's what we call her, I had Scarlett, Polar, and Trekker.

Trekker likes to walk. That's why we call him Trekker. And then in 2018, I was going through a divorce, and it was really tough. And my daughter, unfortunately, went to a puppy store, but it's not a puppy mill. It's like they get them all from breeders and stuff. And so my daughter kept sending me pictures of Pomeranian, Pomeranian, but I don't want a Pomeranian. And, and I go, we have a half one here. We're good with Pomeranians. And she, um, so then I just happened to go, I was like, well, let me just go in and look.

And there was a little teeny miniature Havanese and he was like one pound and he was so cute and, um, took him home because just completely fell in love with him. And he was adorable. And we named him Rupert. And yeah, so now I have a total of four dogs from 2010 to 2018. Your house is full of puppy love. That's for sure. I love that because I guess when COVID hit and you had to settle down, you've been tested with COVID, right? You had all of this unconditional love all the way around you. How lucky. Well, I really realized when I had my own dogs, like what dogs mean to you and, you know, just the comfort they give you.

And my daughter has a little anxiety sometimes. So her dog Scarlett just really calms her. And it's amazing how you just fall in love with these little creatures that can really help you through life. They do help you through life. And you mentioned sometimes the anxiety, some of the stressors of growing up. And actually, and during COVID too, with the lockdowns and our social structures were removed and all of those kinds of times in our lives, these dogs really do provide that. I think they're our therapist, really. They're really great for us in so many moments. And you know what I read too recently that I think will resonate with you was,

you know, there was a little saying on, I think, one of the social feeds that said, you know, for dogs, they're a small part of our life because, you know, they live 10, 15 years, right? But we're all of their lives. And we can remember that. You're all of Trekker's life. You're all of Polar's life. And it's amazing, right? When we think about it in that lens. It's nice to be able to, because they really do feel like you're their mom, you know? And it just, there's just a feeling of satisfaction that you can give them a home and take care of them. And they give back unconditionally. And it's just a great sort of mesh of human and animal. Absolutely. So you mentioned your morning walks.

Four. And you've got a little bitty Havanese all the way up to your Huskies. That's quite a morning walk. Does it all go together? Yeah, you know, it's tough. This morning I only took the two. I took Scarlet and Trekker. But, yeah, I took them the other day all together. And little Rupert likes to, like, sniff and Trekker. But yeah, I took them the other day all together and little Rupert likes

to like sniff and do stuff and the other ones just want to go and I'm kind of like pulling them and it starts dragging them. So I just pick them up and I'm just holding them and I'm holding under the three dogs and I have my poop bags in my pocket hoping they don't fall out. I'm just walking around and I think people think I'm a dog walker, you know, they're like, oh, walking around. And I think people think I'm a dog walker, you know, they're like, it probably looks that way with all the different sizes too. Yeah. I love that. I love that. Is your community very dog friendly where you live? Very. And they actually even have garbage and poop bags in some of the areas. I live in Victoria Park in Fort Lauderdale,

and they do a great job of providing areas where you can throw your bags out and you can get bags. So there's lots of grass that the dogs love and lots of trees, so it's shaded when it gets hot. It's wonderful. We always find that dogs build social capital. They allow us to have great neighbors and great communities because you're out there and you're talking not about your work, not about, you know, other things, the politics or anything else. We're talking about dogs. So they seem to be such a unifier in communities. Am I right? Yes. I mean, you can hear my dog right now. He was just barking. Yeah, no, they are. They, you know, they all actually, you know, when you're walking dogs and other people walking dogs, you can go over and meet people. And,

you know, I mean, dogs, there's so many great aspects about having a dog. And, you know, I highly recommend it to people who don't or are thinking like maybe they should get dogs. You know, you get that little bit of, if you get them when they're young, you get a little bit of puppy remorse because you're like, oh my God, this is like having a child, like pooping and peeing all the time and stuff and having to crate train them and all that, that kind of stuff. But, you know, once they get, you know, to about one or so, they just become like really a part of your family and just someone like a animal that you want to take care of, but then they start taking care of you too as they mature. So it's pretty cool. And you know, it's also is, is they, they know when you

have injuries, you know, I've realized, you know, I've walked in and had some stuff going on. I'll lay on the ground and they come over like right where your injury is and just sit right next to you. You know, I think that's pretty amazing too, um, that they can just sense what's going on with you. They do. They really do. You know, there's dogs. We do the Hero Dog Awards every year, 13 years. There's dogs that sniff out cancer on their owners

and dogs that can actually anticipate an asthma attack or an epilepsy attack. It's amazing what these dogs can do with their humans. And they really, if we listen to them, it's amazing how they can help us prevent, you know, further advancement of even any disease. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, definitely. It's pretty amazing. Well, we just have to ask, people are going to want to know, is Tessa going to take one of these four dogs to school or is she going to get a new puppy next year? I mean, she would love to. Scarlett's 13 and a half now, so she's getting up there a little bit.

But, you know, I just I want Scarlett to be able to live until Tessa can at least get to school. And that's always a fear of mine. She's had a few issues here and there and stuff. And I just I don't know. It's it's tough. But if Tessa had her way and the dorms would let her, she would bring her dog immediately to school with her. So, um, you know, I, I remember when I was in college, I, uh, I had a, my roommate had a couple of dogs and she wanted them to live with us, but we couldn't. So we ended up getting like pet lizards or something just to like keep us company. Um, but, uh, yeah, dogs are, like I said, Tessa would definitely take her dog if she could to, uh, to school.

like I said, Tessa would definitely take her dog if she could to school. You know, I think when people are listening to our session today, they're going to love hearing this side of you with your dogs. You know, I think it's so very cool, you know, to absolutely understand what these dogs mean to you and that you have four, not just one. I think that's brilliant and so wonderful. Absolutely. You know, absolutely. And it's funny because, you know, people sometimes want to know like how they can, you know, either become a dog owner or donate or whatever they want to do, you know, and, you know, I would say just go and be around, like go to a shelter and be around a dog. And, you know, I have a woman who works with me. She shelters, she fosters dogs, which is really cool because then you can get to know them and, you know,

maybe you can end up adopting them. You know, you can start small and just foster them and see, you know, if you like them and stuff. And, you know, donations are always great too. My daughter, when she was, I want to say she was in fifth or sixth grade, she had to do a project, a community service project, and she did a lemonade stand to donate and she took all her donations and donated to Tony La Russa's Animal Foundation. And that's another way to be able to, you know, to get your kids involved is, you know, it wasn't much, it was probably a few hundred dollars, but that goes a long way for shelters and, you know, humane societies and all that kind of stuff. So, yeah, I would say, you know, start small if you're not used to having a dog or if you want to somehow donate and,

you know, and then I'm pretty sure you'll end up falling in love with a dog. I'm pretty sure you'll end up falling in love with a dog. I love that. I love that. I want to pivot quickly because an important part of our international arm is we're working hard to motivate people to fight the sixth mass extinction, which is this huge issue of the loss of biodiversity in our world. And when people hear the numbers and they hear the challenges and they understand that it's so big, they often lose a spark of motivation to actually make a difference in the world. How would you advise all of us in the humane movement to remember how to motivate,

to motivate people to create these communities of change? Because the problem seems so daunting. How can we make a community change happen and people don't get too frightened to get involved? I think it's like what you just said, making a difference and making a difference in society. And, you know, I think that that's a great goal. And, you know, you don't have to start out big with whatever you want to do to try to help. You know, it's about getting the foot in. And I think, I think for a lot of people, there's intimidation. And once you get through that intimidation, you know, you, you, you realize it and you can somehow help or donate or whatever

you can do. You realize what a great feeling that is that you're being able to give back. you realize what a great feeling that is that you're being able to give back. And that's always been a priority of me is being able to give back and do something and make a difference. And I think that's what makes, you know, you who you are is to be able to do that. And it's not about receiving, it's about giving. And I think that's a very important tool that if you don't have, you learn to have because you will realize how rewarding that is. And it is rewarding. I think if they have one sense of success, incremental success, then that just builds and builds and builds. It was like probably, how did you feel when you won your first medal your first olympic medal um you know it's it's very hard to explain unless you were the one who was there doing the training

and the sacrifices and the dedication and the hard work um you know it's it's a feeling that is is really indescribable um you know you're up up there and you just swam in front of the world and in front of, you know, thousands and thousands of people. And you're on that, you know, awards podium with the medal being put around your neck and the national anthem playing. And, you know, it's the icing on the cake. But, you know, it's funny because when I was younger, it was all about, oh, what medal can I get? Is there any way I can win an individual's funny because when I was younger, it was all about, oh, what medal can I get? Is there any way I can win an individual medal? And as I got older, it was really the road to get there that was most rewarding. I mean, obviously, it's nice to get a medal, but

it's what you learn to be the best that you can be. And that road that you took and the journey is what's most rewarding. It's like I said, the metal is just the icing on the cake. I love it. It's the road, it's the journey. And that's what we do learn as we continue on our path right after that. That's so beautiful and so powerful. We have just so enjoyed our conversation with you. And I know our wonderful listeners are going to want to learn more about you. How can they follow you and be inspired by you? Because I know you have a lot going on right now. Yeah, you can go to my website, deratoris.com. I'm also on Instagram and I guess formerly X, formerly known as Twitter.

You just look up Daratoris and you'll find me. And I like to post stuff. I've been a little bit quiet lately because I've just been so busy, but I'm going to get back up there. And I like to post a lot of workout and exercise stuff that people can try to do. And yeah, I think those are the best ways to get ahold of me or, you know, and if you want to DM me, I'm usually pretty good about responding, you know, if I'm not like too crazy busy. That's wonderful. Well, Dara, you're a true inspiration. And I'm so thrilled that you've joined us today in Robin's Nest. And I bet everyone is surprised you have four dogs.

And they're going to love the fact when you get the fifth one for Tessa going off to college. I know that's going to happen. And again, we'd love to invite you and Tessa to join us at our Hero Dog Awards. And if not this year, we'll get you next year as we celebrate heroes on both ends of the leash, because you are a true American hero and we're so proud to know you. Well, thank you so much for having me on. It was nice chatting with you. so proud to know you. Well, thank you so much for having me on. It was nice chatting with you. Thank you. Thank you. Friends, this is Dara Torres, and you can follow her on all of her social media channels. Thanks so very much.