Torres Makes History, Headed to Fifth Olympic Games
Saturday, July 5, 2008 | Women's Swimming & Diving
On a night of lifetime bests at the Qwest Center in Omaha, UF grad Dara Torres made history in the 100-meter freestyle finals, racing her way to a first-place finish (53.78) and qualifying for her fifth Olympic Games. Torres is the first woman to qualify for five Olympic games and is additionally the oldest female, at age 41, to make the U.S. Olympic team.
Torres will attempt to qualify for Beijing in the 50-meter freestyle, her better event, Sunday, pending advancement after prelims and semifinals Saturday. Torres is seated first going into prelims of the 50 free as the American and Meet Record holder in the event.
Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) battled through two final events on day six of the Olympic Trials, qualifying for Team USA in both the 200-meter back and 200-meter IM. Lochte finished second (1:54.34) in the 200-meter backstroke final only two-one-hundredths of a second behind backstroke rival Aaron Peirsol (1:54.32), who tied Lochte?s World Record in the event with his first-place time. Lochte and Peirsol will now share the record.
A little less than a half hour later, Lochte took to the water again for finals of the 200 IM alongside friend and colleague Michael Phelps, reeling in another second-place finish, clocking in at a lifetime best, 1:55.22, for his third individual ticket to Beijing.
In distance freestyle action, Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) and Laurabeth Guenthner (Wellington, Fla.) both swam their way to the championship heat of the 800-meter free after preliminaries in the event Friday morning. Burckle swam a 8:35.86, good for fifth-place going into finals, while Guenthner positioned herself seventh (8:36.79) with a career-best time going into the Saturday final of the event.
UF teammates Elizabeth Goldson (Glen Cove, N.Y.) and Kim Larson (Longwood, Fla.) also swam the 800 free alongside Burckle and Guenthner, placing 19th (8:45.44) and 28th (8:49.35), respectively, in the prelims. Goldson?s 8:45.44 was a new personal best swim in the event.
In the 50-meter freestyle preliminary swim Friday morning, Gators Dan Penniman (Pensacola, Fla.) and Jos Smith (Milledgeville, Ga.) placed 46th and 82nd . Penniman finished with a career-best time, 23.09, while Smith clocked in at 23.44, shy of his career best. Penniman additionally swam preliminaries of the 100-meter fly in 55.60 (82nd place), while Tim Hughes (Winter Park, Fla.) finished in a personal best time, 53.96, for 26th place in the fly.
Three UF women represented the Gators in the 200-meter backstroke prelims. Kelsy Smith (Cary, N.C.) placed 47th with a time of 2:16.52, while Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.) touched two-one-hundredths of a second behind Smith in 48th(2:16.54). Jenne Ballatore (Gainesville, Fla.) rounded out the 200 back with a 65th-place finish (2:17.66). All three women recorded career-best times in the event.
The second-to-last day of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials will continue at the Qwest Center Saturday with prelims beginning at 12 p.m. (ET), streamed live on NBCOlympics.com, while finals commence at 7:45 p.m. (ET), broadcast live on NBC from 8-9 p.m.
Saturday, July 5 Prelims, 12 p.m. (ET), NBCOlympics.com
50 Free – women
1500 Free – men
Saturday, July 5 Finals, 7:45 p.m. (ET), NBC
200 Back – women – FINAL
100 Fly – men - FINAL
800 Free – women - FINAL
50 Free – men - FINAL
50 Free – women - semifinal
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