Dara Torres, 42, cruises to victory in her morning heat of the 50-meter freestyle as she opens her quest to make this summer's U.S. world championship team. (Michael Conroy, Associated Press)
U.S. swimming championships archives
INDIANAPOLIS, July 9–Even on a bum knee and with sub-standard preparation, Dara Torres, 42, can dominate women half her age.
Torres began her quest to make the U.S. world championship team by posting the fastest time in the Thursday morning heats of the 50-meter freestyle at the U.S. swimming championships.
Her finish in 24.72 seconds did not approach her American record of 24.07, but it topped Anne-Marie Botek, 21, who earned the second seed with a 24.89, and Amanda Weir, 23, third in 24.94.
“It kind of messes with your head a little bit when you know you’re not at peak form,” Torres said.
It surely messes with everyone else’s heads when Torres, apparently not in peak form, takes a quick lead and cruises to victory. It wasn’t, she insisted, as easy as it looked.
She said her arthritic left knee — on which she will have surgery at the end of the summer — screams at her every time she bends at the start of a race to launch into the pool. On top of that, she said, she hasn’t been regimented in her training this year, busy as she has been with travel, promotional work and other opportunities outside the pool.
“I’m coming into this meet and I have no idea where I am … so it’s a little frustrating,” she said. “For this meet, it’s just a matter of making the team … I don’t really have super-high expectations.”
Torres wore the Speedo LZR that she wore at last year’s Olympics but did not rule out trying one of the more acclaimed new suits in the evening final. The world swimming governing body (FINA) considered banning more than 100 suits but decided against it after running into legal issues.
“FINA put us in a very difficult situation,” she said. “It’s unfortunate they kept going back and forth, back and forth on their decision. They should have just stuck to one thing. Now, it makes it tough for swimmers to decide what to do. It’s a very unfortunate situation.”
Earlier, Michael Phelps posted the fastest qualifying time in the 100 butterfly, then made it clear he will chase the world record in the event — one of the few he does not own — in Thursday’s final. Phelps touched the wall Thursday in 51.17. He has his eye on Ian Crocker’s four-year-old world record of 50.40.
“I was pretty happy with that swim,” Phelps said. “Tonight, for me to be able to go what I want to go, I have to be out a little faster.”
During a recent meet in Montreal, Phelps surprisingly dropping 0.10 from his personal best, finishing in 50.48.
Phelps said, at the time, he “had no idea” what the world-record mark was.
Now, he does.
“This is the event I’ve been looking forward to the most,” Phelps said.
Phelps said he has spent the majority of his last five months of training working on the 100 fly and 100 freestyle, as he has transitioned from more middle-distance events to speed events. He has spent more time in the weight room to bulk up and create the extra power he needs to go faster over shorter distances, he said.
“I think I’ve put on a lot more muscle mass than I have in the past,” Phelps said. “I think my upper body is a lot stronger than it’s been every before. I think for shorter events, it’s really needed.”
Cullen Jones led all qualifiers in the men’s 50 free, finishing in 21.54 seconds ahead of James Feigen (21.92) Nicholas Brunelli (21.94), Garrett Weber-Gale (21.99) and Nathan Adrian (22.01). The most interesting qualifier is Sabir Muhammad, who is 33 and earned the sixth seed in 22.08.
Julia Smit posted the best qualifying time (4 minutes, 40.27 seconds) in the 400 individual medley, topping Elizabeth Beisel (4:40.60) and Dagny Knutson (4:42.00). In the women’s 100 breast heats, Kasey Carlson, 17, finished in 1:06.66 seconds, a meet record, topping Keri Hehn, 28, who also broke the meet record with her time of 1:06.80.
In other news: Springfield’s Ashley Danner, 18, won a spot in the C final of the women’s 100 breaststroke, finishing in 1:11.26, but Curl-Burke’s Ellyn Baumgardner, 18, (1:11.71), Rockville-Montgomery’s Colleen Haase, 20, (1:11.74) and Curl-Burke’s Jennifer Wilson, 18, (1:11.99) just missed … T.P. Patrick, 24, (54.36) of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club and Sean Fletcher, 17, (54.40) of the Mason Makos Swim Team qualified for the C final in the 100 fly … NBAC’s Christie Raleigh, 22, squeezed into the B final of the 50 free when she won a swim-off with three other women, finishing in 25.65, and NBAC’s Kailey Morris made the B final of the women’s 400 individual medley (4 minutes, 49.77 seconds).
Tags: Amanda Weir, Dara Torres, Michael Phelps, U.S. Swimming Championships
stats corner
