July 8, 2008 - For eight days, the Qwest Center in Omaha served as the epicenter of heartbreak and elation, as the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials steadily unfolded.
We witnessed Michael Phelps earn a shot to overtake Mark Spitz and win eight gold medals at the Beijing Games. We watched Natalie Coughlin assert her dominance in the 100-meter backstroke and become the first woman in history to break 59 seconds. We saw Amanda Beard complete an unlikely comeback and make her fourth Olympic team and Katie Hoff qualify for five events plus a relay.
But the swimmer who quite possibly made the biggest splash at the eight-day trials, was 41 year old Dara Torres who won the 50- and 100-meter freestyles. Torres won the 50 in 24.25 seconds, bettering the American record she set the day before. Former Cal star Jessica Hardy finished second in 24.82 to add another event to her Olympic program, which includes the 100 breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay.
With her two year old daughter watching, Torres successfully completed her bid to make a fifth Olympic team. She nabbed her first gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. And she is committed to adding another Olympic medal to the nine she already owns. “I can’t sit here and say, ‘Oh, I’m just glad to be going,’” Torres said. “I want to win a medal.”
Olympic team members now head to Stanford on Monday for two weeks of training before departing to Singapore for another camp. We’ll be watching!
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[…] on the U.S. roster is five-time Olympian Dara Torres. a mom of a 2-year-old who has won nine Olympic medals in her career. While Torres has gained […]
[…] Forty-one-year-old Dara Torres swims in her record fifth Olympics, two years after having a baby. Find out if she can continue to defy her age by winning a medal in […]