U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS

U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS

OMAHA — Someone knew as far back as last summer that Dara Torres would make the 2008 U.S. Olympic swimming team — at age 41.

That someone was USA Swimming's Mark Schubert, who has known Torres since she was 13 and began coaching her a few years later.

"The comeback kind of blew me away when she … was so successful last summer, breaking the American record," Schubert said. "Once she did that, I knew she was going to make the team."

That was at Indianapolis, when Torres lowered the mark in the 50 freestyle. The rest of the world caught up to Schubert's intuition at the Olympic trials when Torres won the 100 freestyle Friday.

She took it a stroke or two beyond that Sunday, setting herself up as a viable individual medal contender in Beijing by winning the 50 freestyle on the last day of the trials. Her 24.25 seconds lowered her own American record.

"I don't think it's really sunk in yet," Torres said. "I know I've made it, but I haven't read any articles or seen anything on TV. I've been watching 'Seinfeld' and 'Sex and the City.' "

Torres was asked what it would take to contend in China in the 50.

"It's still fun to be the one who's chasing and not the one being chased," Torres said. "I kind of like my position."

Torres said she had not decided whether to swim a full program of two individual events and two relays in China. She could skip the 100 freestyle; that decision will come shortly.

Many treated her last comeback, in 2000, with suspicion. Though Torres has never had a positive drug test, a steady stream of columns have questioned her results, wondering if it all might be too good to be true.

Torres said she regards the accusations as a compliment and cited her numerous urine and blood tests. She also disclosed Sunday she had been taking an amino acid formula, a German product that the World Anti-Doping Agency has approved, Schubert said.

"I really do cringe because I know it hurts her," Schubert said. "She anticipated the questions just because of her age and because of the age we're in and all the media coverage with baseball this past year. I think it was predictable. But I think it's also unfair. I think it's unfair to accuse anybody without testing positive.

"She understands it comes with the territory of being great. She's been a very spectacular talent since she was 14 years old. And she's never been out of shape a day in her life. Just because there's a lot of fat and out-of-shape 41-year-olds, that doesn't mean that's how it has to be."