Torres moving on after falling just short of Olympics
OMAHA, Neb. — Dara Torres is headed back to Florida to watch the Olympics on TV, like a lot of middle-aged folks.
The 45-year-old mom missed making a record sixth U.S. swim team by nine-hundredths of a second, finishing fourth in the 50-meter freestyle on the last night of the trials Monday.
“This is really over,” she said, smiling. “That’s it, I’m going to enjoy some time with my daughter, have a nice summer and cheer on the U.S. team from afar.”
Torres carried 6-year-old Tessa, her blond head buried in her mother’s shoulder, as she came off the pool deck and made her way past reporters for the last time.
“She’s bummed she’s not going to London now,” Torres said. “I told her I’d still take her though.”
Torres will have extra time now to help her daughter get ready for first grade in the fall. Always a fitness fanatic, she’ll still work out, just not at the highest level required of an elite athlete. And Torres admits it’ll be nice to stop worrying about whether she can recover enough to swim three races in quick succession.
“Mentally it’s been so tough the past couple years with having more bad workouts than good workouts and going to meets and not being able to go faster at night than I did in the morning,” she said.
“I’m used to winning, but that wasn’t the goal here. The goal was to try to make it. I didn’t quite do it, but I’m really happy with how I did.”
Asked if she was immediately going to sign her retirement papers that would end drug testing, Torres joked, “Oh, I’m calling USADA tonight.”
