By John Lohn
BEIJING, China, August 16. MAYBE there's a little magic left in the pool. During a week that has been so special for everything Michael Phelps has been doing, a 41-year-old now sits one race and 50 meters shy of capturing a gold medal. Whether Dara Torres can pull of the feat in the 50-meter freestyle will be determined in the morning.
Swimming in the second semifinal, Torres popped a time of 24.27 to nail down the No. 1 slot for the championship final. Competing in her fifth Olympics and with 10 Olympic medals already to her credit, Torres just missed her American record of 24.25, set at the United States Olympic Trials last month in Omaha.
Torres will have her hands full with a field that is tightly bunched. The leader after the preliminaries, Australian Cate Campbell checked in with the second-fastest time of the semifinals, placing second to Torres in 24.42. Taking the third slot for the final was Germany's Britta Steffen. The Olympic champ in the 100 freestyle, Steffen touched in 24.43.
The Netherlands' Marleen Veldhuis was fourth in the session, thanks to a time of 24.46. She was followed by the world-record holder, Australian Libby Trickett (24.47). Another Dutch woman, Hinkelien Schreuder, was sixth in 24.52 and American Kara Lynn Joyce jumped into the seventh slot in 24.63. Rounding out the field for the final was Belarus' Aleksandra Gerasimenya (24.72).
Torres demonstrated some class as she asked an official to hold up her heat when Therese Alshammar needed to change out suits after a rip happened right before the event.
