COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 16. DARA Torres, 41, returned from a short rehab stint with a vengeance as she put together a strong 100 freestyle in the Texas Senior Circuit's first night of swimming.
Triin Aljand touched out Chesapeake's Samantha Woodward, 27.14 to 27.16, in front of a hometown crowd in the women's 50 fly. Longhorn Tanica Jamison placed third in 27.44, while Coral Spring's Leila Vaziri finished fourth in 27.80.
Ian Crocker put together a quick time of 24.46 in the men's sprint fly as he downed Camilo Becerra of Fort Worth, who took second in 24.98. Matt Donch rounded out the top three in 25.02.
Hayley McGregory posted her best time of the year with a 2:10.96 to win the women's 200 back. That time cleared her previous best this year of 2:11.25 set in March. McGregory finished well ahead of Erica Meissner, who placed second in 2:17.20 with Kristen Heiss taking third in 2:17.28.
Nick Thoman secured an upset over teammate David Cromwell in the men's 200 back with a time of 1:59.84 against Cromwell's 2:00.54. Thoman had enough in the tank to overtake Cromwell in the final 50 after trailing 1:29.89 to 1:30.17 at the 150-meter mark as Thoman beat Cromwell, 29.67 to 30.65, in the last stretch.
Dara Torres, 41, demonstrated she is well on pace to making history at the U.S. Olympic Trials with a winning time of 54.17 in the women's 100 free. That performance is tied for ninth in the world this year and is only behind Natalie Coughlin's newly-minted 53.39 as the second-fastest American this year. Martina Moravcova and Mustang teammate Jennifer Blackman took second and third in 56.07 and 56.37.
Neil Walker gave Longhorn another victory when he hit the pad in 49.49 in the men's 100 free. Matt McGinnis finished second in 49.99, while Dale Rogers took third in 50.24.
In the women's 200 breast, Anne Poleska walked away with the title in 2:28.82, while Spindrift Beck snatched second in 2:29.66. Julie Stupp picked up third in 2:31.69.
With teammate Brendan Hansen competing in the Santa Clara meet, Eric Shanteau had an easy time of winning the men's 200 breast in 2:13.12. Coral Springs' Vlad Polyakov claimed second back in 2:15.52, while Scott Spann, swimming for Longhorn, took third in 2:17.81.
Jessica Rodriquez of Longhorn won the women's 400 free with a time of 4:14.51, while Kirsty Coventry finished second in 4:17.31 in an off event.
Caleb Veazey of the Mustangs clipped the Trials cut with a winning time of 3:59.28 in the men's 400 free, while Sean Patton finished second in 4:00.51. Bryan Collins took third in 4:02.03.