Play-Doh playmates

PALO ALTO -- Really, it shouldn't be surprising that someone was putting Play-Doh on Dara Torres.

After all, she has a toddler, 2-year-old Tessa.

But it wasn't young Tessa putting it on her leg; it was one of her newly minted Olympic teammates, 18-year-old Allison Schmitt, who wasn't even born when Torres competed in her first Olympics in 1984.

Schmitt, who trains with Club Wolverine and Michael Phelps in Ann Arbor, Mich., under coach Bob Bowman, made her first U.S. Olympic team by finishing second in the 200-meter freestyle behind Katie Hoff at trials. Torres, 41, will be competing in an unprecedented fifth Olympics.

On Saturday, Torres was asked about generation divide on the team, certainly more than a gap.

"How do I explain this?" she said at a media gathering on Saturday at Stanford. "They're all really nice. I've really enjoyed being around them. You can definitely tell there's an age barrier.

"We were at a team meeting and Allison Schmitt had Play-Doh and was spelling my name out on Play-Doh on my leg."

Presumably, Torres didn't return the favor.

"Oh, no.  I'm like, 'You're a bad influence,' " Torres said. "She was so funny. Then they rolled it up  and made the Olympic rings and put it on my leg."

Torres joked about the youngsters, saying, "I think they have to baby-sit me."

From all accounts, Schmitt has been a burst of fresh air at this training camp. Phelps and Bowman were telling stories from Ann Arbor.

"She's always a character," Phelps said. "She has her little underwater camera that she brings, and we're taking pictures underwater and we're messing around. The one thing she loves is telling jokes. Sometimes they're not that funny. But she always laughs really hard at them. It's fun."

He wasn't sure about her best joke, and so Bowman jumped in: "She actually had a good one, one day. I was so shocked I think I forgot."

-- Lisa Dillman

Photo: Allison Schmitt acknowledges the crowd at the awards ceremony for the 200-meter freestyle. With her are fellow youngsters Katie Hoff, left, and Julia Smit and Caroline Burckle, far right. Credit: Jamie Squire / Getty Images