Fort Lauderdale - An Olympic swimmer and coach shared center stage once again.

Dara Torres, 43, of Parkland, a five-time Olympian and her coach, Michael Lohberg, 58, were among six inductees into the Broward County Sports Hall of Fame on Tuesday night at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center.

"I just found the other day that we were presenting each other, and I was very psyched because he is the reason behind why I did so well at the Olympic Games," said Torres, who won three silver medals in the 2008 Olympic Games.

"Michael has become such a close friend and he's an amazing person so it was an honor for me to present him for his award."

Lohberg was equally moved because of the bond they have formed.

"I must say this ranks very high," said Lohberg, a six-time Olympic coach dating back from 1984. "This is something I am not used to because we do our work and have our results and get the gratification. It means a lot because it doesn't happen very often. It was a long way from Germany to the Virgin Islands to this stage."

"It was also very special to present Dara," Lohberg said. "A lot of powerful things and wonderful things have happened on both sides and this is kind of the pinnacle of that because we introduced each other. It was very cool to do that."

Also inducted in the class of 2009 were mixed martial arts pioneer and the first Brazilian to be inducted, Ricardo Liborio, former Dolphin and five-time pro bowler John Offerdahl, who is active in the community, former Florida Marlin Jeff Conine, and high school basketball coach Herman Pittman (317-131), four state championships in 18 years) at Dillard, and Deerfield Beach High Schools.

The six inductees joined more than 80 Hall of Fame members, including Dan Marino, , Michael Irvin, , and Max Osceola.