Legendary Olympic swimmer Dara Torres proves that Age is Just a Number with her new memoir about her history-making achievements, and she tells our own Mark Steines that the road to glory was paved with some serious obstacles, including an eating disorder.

"Everything that's happened, even when I was at the darkest point of my life when I had my eating disorder, I still learned from my mistakes … and I look at it as just growing and becoming a better person," she says.

Dara struggled with bulimia in college, and she says, "Right when I started binging and purging I realized that I had a problem because it becomes habitual, and it's sort of like an addict. … It went out of control and it took me many years to get over it. The first thing you have to do is admit [you need help], and that took five years to do."

A motivational and inspirational story about staying fit, aging gracefully and pursuing your dreams, Age is Just a Number chronicles Dara's feats as the first American swimmer to compete in five Olympic Games, as well as the oldest female swimmer in the history of the Olympics at age 41. The L.A. native made headlines when she launched her Olympic comeback as a new mother at 41, eight years after her last Olympics, and walked away with three silver medals. All-in-all, Dara has won twelve Olympic medals (four gold, four silver, four bronze).

"Don't put an age limit on your dreams," says Dara. "Athletes are human. We all have our ups and downs. Mine happened to be with swimming, but I had an eating disorder, I dealt with my father passing away, jealousy on the team -- things that people deal with every day."

Watch ET for more with Dara!