Omaha, NE (My Sportsbook) - Dara Torres clinched a spot in her fifth Summer Games by winning the 100-meter freestyle on what was a record night for Michael Phelps and Aaron Peirsol Friday at the U.S. Olympic Swimming trials.
The 41-year-old Torres, mother of a two-year-old daughter and the oldest active U.S. swimming Olympic gold medalist, won in a time of 53.78 seconds, barely ahead of American record-holder Natalie Coughlin (53.83). It's been an incredible Olympic run for Torres, winner of nine medals, starting with a relay gold in 1984 in her current home city of Los Angeles, and most recently capturing four medals in 2000 -- this after coming out of a seven-year retirement.
"I'm ecstatic, I can't believe it," Torres said. "It's sort of bittersweet for me because I made my fifth Olympic team, but I'm going to be away from my daughter for a month and that's going to be real hard emotionally. I'm happy I'm going to Beijing."
The song "American Woman" blared over the public address system the second the race was over, with Torres getting out of the pool in celebratory fashion and then breaking down in tears.
"I started thinking about my father. He passed away 1 1/2 years ago," Torres said. "I hadn't told him I was making a comeback after I already started. I was thinking he was with me in that race. It kind of helped me at the end a bit. I was also thinking about my daughter and my family that was in the stands."
It was the first time Torres won the 100 freestyle at the trials. She plans on racing in the 50-meter preliminary heats, considered her stronger event, on Saturday, and could conceivably drop the 100 from her program if she clinches a second spot at the Olympics.
Phelps continued to set the swimming world on fire by breaking the world record in winning the 200-meter individual medley. He finished in a time of 1 minute, 54.80 seconds, topping his old previous record (1:54.98). Ryan Lochte was second at 1:55.22.
It was Phelps' fourth individual win at the trials, joining the 400 IM, 200 free and 200 fly.
Earlier in the day, Mark Spitz, the owner of a single-Olympics seven gold medals, gave a ringing endorsement to Phelps' bid for eight in Beijing, saying, "This is going to be history. He's going to do it with what we say is a little schooling to the rest of the world."
Spitz later awarded Phelps' 200 IM medal and afterward was the recipient of his gracious comments.
"He's one of the greatest Olympians out there," Phelps said of Spitz. "Having his support I think is pretty special."
Less than a half-hour before Phelps' win, Peirsol tied Lochte's world record in the men's 200-meter backstroke as the duo finished 1-2 in the final. Peirsol touched the wall in a time of 1 minute, 54.32 seconds, just ahead of Lochte (1:54.34). Despite the second-place finish, Lochte secured his place in Beijing, setting up a showdown with his American teammate, who is the defending Olympic champion in the 200 backstroke.
"It'll take faster than that to win in Beijing," said Peirsol, who also won a silver in the 200 backstroke at the Sydney Games eight years ago. "I'm not sure how much faster, but we'll try to set that pace."
Rebecca Soni won the 200-meter breaststroke in a time of 2 minutes, 22.60 seconds to make her first Olympics. Amanda Beard, the gold medalist at this event at the 2004 Summer Games, made her fourth Olympic team by finishing second in 2:25.13.
The 26-year-old Beard has already won three medals in the 200 breaststroke, also donning a silver in 1996 and bronze in 2000.
"I knew I could make the team, but I knew it was a long shot," Beard said. "I came in here with not a lot of training under my belt, with not feeling 100 percent ready to go, with a little bit of aches and pains. Fortunately, it worked fine. My experience really helped me out."
Phelps also had the top time in the semifinals of the 100-meter butterfly at 51.10 seconds. Ian Crocker was second, winning his heat in 51.52 seconds. The final is Saturday.
Cullen Jones continued his quest to become the second African-American swimmer to qualify for the Olympics in an individual event by finishing with the second-best time in the 50-meter freestyle semifinals.
Jones had a mark of 21.71 seconds, behind only Ben Tobriner-Wildman (21.65). Earlier in the day, Jones broke the American record with a time of 21.59 seconds.
Gary Hall Jr., who held the old mark at 21.76, also made it to Saturday's final with a time of 21.94 seconds. Hall is attempting to make his fourth Olympics and is the two-time defending champion in the event at the Summer Games.
Garrett Weber-Gale, the winner of Thursday night's 100-meter freestyle final, had the third-best time in the semis at 21.83 seconds.
Elizabeth Beisel had the top qualifying time from the semifinals in the 200- meter backstroke at 2 minutes, 7.78 seconds. Hayley McGregory was second (2:08.28), followed by Margaret Hoelzer, the American record-holder, at 2:09.04. That final is also Saturday.
