By John Lohn and Dana Lawrence Lohn
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, August 1. IS there anything this woman can't do? She's already been to four Olympic Games, in 1994, 1988, 1992 and 2000. Now, Dara Torres – 40 years young – is knocking on the door of a fifth Olympiad. If her summer wasn't already impressive, the nine-time Olympic medalist guaranteed that fact Wednesday night.
Taking the lead from the start, Torres went wire-to-wire to win the 100 freestyle over a high-quality field. The fifth seed heading into the final, Torres split 25.79 at the 50-meter mark and held on down the stretch to prevail in 54.45, just off her personal best of 54.43. Although Amanda Weir closed the gap heading into the wall, she couldn't quite catch the legend. Torres was already the oldest female national champ at 33, and extended that mark by seven years.
"I didn't even know … I mean, this wasn't even a thought when I was swimming in 2000. I don't feel like I'm 40. There are days when I do, but most days, I don't. And it's a great feeling – I couldn't believe the crowd noise. Usually they save that stuff for Michael Phelps, and they were making noise for me!" said Torres.
Evan Morgenstein, Torres' agent, was justifiably "thrilled that she did what she did – she focuses on a demographic in which there is no competition. She didn't make any money today – she didn't make a dime. She came because she wanted to win a national championship."
Weir, a former American-record holder in the event, was the top seed for the evening session and nearly came through with the gold medal. Ultimately, Weir touched in 54.79 to better the 54.95 of Dana Vollmer and the 54.96 of Lacey Nymeyer. Vollmer and Nymeyer were members of the U.S. squad that set a world record in the 800 free relay at the World Champs earlier this year.
Earlier this summer, Torres delivered several impressive efforts in Europe, including a sub-25 clocking in the 50 free and a sub-55 outing in the 100 free. Her win here simply adds to the hype heading into next year's Olympic Trials in Omaha. While Torres was considered a longshot to make a fifth Olympics when her comeback started, she's now considered a favorite.
Click here to view event results PDF file.
