Five Time Olympian Dara Torres Taking Boston College Head Coach Position
A day after the Boston Celtics won their 18th Championships, the sporting community will be welcoming a new face with an equally impressive resume as Dara Torres, a five-time Olympian will take over as Boston College’s Head Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving Coach.
Blake James, the William V. Campbell Director of Athletics, said in a release that
From the moment we met with Dara, it was evident that she was exactly the fit we werelooking for to begin a fresh, new chapter of Boston College swimming & diving. Her record as a world-class competitor is historic and her ability to clearly articulate her vision as a coach and leader will allow our student-athletes to develop and excel in and out of the pool.
Torres, who was in Indianapolis for the Olympic Trials last night (Monday, 6/17) to support the USA Swimming Foundation, competed for the US at the 1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, and 2008 Olympics. During her career, Torres won 12 Olympic Medals and was a six-time World Record Holder. In the release, Torres spoke about her role as a coach, stating,
I’ve learned from great coaches at every point in my career. This opportunity to share what I’ve learned, in and out of the pool, and pass along technique, confidence, and support as part of the Boston College Athletics Department is a dream. I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together.
Torres has connections to the area, having settled in the Boston suburbs of Dover after her Olympic career and has been active in the philanthropic and fitness fields. Torres will be joining a BC program that has been under massive amounts of scrutiny and has been shrouded in mystery. In September of 2023, the ACC school was rocked by allegations of hazing. The Heights, BC’s independent school newspaper reported that the allegations included that freshmen swimmers were pressured to binge drink and consume their own vomit during a series of team parties at the beginning of September.
Initially, the program was indefinitely suspended until it could be determined if the allegations were true. Students attempted, via a lawsuit to have the program reinstated in the fall of 2023, but were rejected as the judge stated that the university failed to prove that the university acted unlawfully by suspending them.
In early 2024, the entire season was canceled, and second-year head coach Joe Brinkman, as well as his entire staff, were let go. It was revealed in BC’s review of the program that the hazing, recurring conduct issues, and a team culture that has failed to meet the expectations Boston College holds for its student-athletes were the reason for the school to further suspend the program through August of 2024.
Since then, the program has appeared in limbo, as students were still committing to the team despite no news on the program, and it took the school from January to late April to post the head coaching job. BC does not offer any scholarships for the swimming and diving program.
Torres will become only the fourth head coach in the program’s history. Brinkman was hired in August 2022 after Mike Stephens went to take the head coaching job at Hawaii. Stephens was the head coach since 2016, when 45-year head coach Tom Groden resigned.
The BC women finished 12th out of 12 teams at the 2022 ACC Championships, and the men finished 11th out of 12 teams.
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